


House of Death

by Evilbunnygirl93



Category: Dir en grey, the GazettE
Genre: Angst, Haunted Houses, Horror, M/M, Survival, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:11:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8483686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilbunnygirl93/pseuds/Evilbunnygirl93
Summary: Ruki wakes up in a strange house right after he and his bandmates get into a car accident. Confused and alone, Ruki sets out to find his friends in the mysterious house only they're not there, but he's not alone. Ruki must survive each trial he faces in order to save his friends, but if he fails, they'll be gone forever.





	1. Snake House

            It had been a long day for the band from the van breaking down to the concert hall having an abundant amount of technical issues to the point that the concert started two hours late. They thanked and apologized to their dedicated fans for waiting on them to begin. That wasn’t all though. The members had been in bad moods for the past few days and with that they’ve been at each other’s throats. The littlest things started up an argument between them which led to them being stressed out. The more stressed they were the easier it was to make them angry. It was a vicious cycle.

            The whole tour had been one stressful day after another. With the start of the tour their bus got broken into and some of their things stolen. The second concert was cancelled due to weather problems, but was rescheduled to the end of the tour which they were on their way to now. However two nights ago their bus broke down so they had to use a van to travel, until it wouldn’t start that morning. So they had to use a car to drive to their last destination. To make it on time they would have to drive through the night and Kai was currently behind the wheel.

            It was late and the snow was falling heavily so they were going slow on the lonely highway. Kai had the high beams on and the wipers on high speed. They had gotten separated from the rest of the group and was trying to catch up. Reita was sleeping in the back with Uruha leaning on his shoulder using it for a pillow. Aoi was getting pissed off because his phone didn’t have signal so he couldn’t get on his favorite website. He was already grumpy for having to stay up late the night before, then getting up early this morning, and now unable to sleep because he was traveling. He rubbed his face before sitting his head back to sleep. He closed his eyes, but was startled when Reita jumped awake from his slumber with a shout. Everyone jumped startled by him and Uruha groaned from being jolted awake.

“Damn it, Reita.” He mumbled leaning to sleep on Aoi’s shoulder, but the guitarist brushed him off. Uruha gave him a dirty look before sitting up straight. He looked over at Reita who was rubbing his sweaty face. “What’s up with you?”

“Nightmare.” He mumbled laying his head back and closing his eyes.

Uruha rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Scared-y cat.”

“Leave him alone, Uruha.” Kai sighed. “You know he hasn’t been sleeping well.”

“News flash, none of us have.” Aoi complained glaring over at Reita who was keeping his head turned away.

“Stop it, Aoi.” Ruki groaned. “Don’t start now.”

“Don’t start what? Reminding you guys how rough this tour has been on us. Or how about how mister leader here doesn’t seem to care when things are going wrong.”

“The fuck, Aoi?” Kai snapped. “Of course I care. I’ve been working my ass off to try and keep all this shit from happening. I’ve tried to work on everything, fix the car issues, merchandise issues, all of that shit. Not like any of you have been helping much.”

“That’s such bullshit!” Ruki snapped. “You think I’ve been standing behind you twiddling my thumbs. I have been working my ass off to fix all these problems just as much as you have.”

“Guys!” Reita shouted. “Shut up already.”

“Stay out of this, Reita. Go back to sleep, that’s something you’re good at doing.” Ruki snapped

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Ruki rolled his eyes and turned in his seat to glare at his band mate. “Whenever there’s a fucking problem you sleep on the couch and ignore everything. You leave us to deal with whatever shit has popped up rather than helping us out.”

Reita flinched and sat back in his seat to look out the window. Uruha glared at Ruki. “Take that back Ruki. You know that’s not true.”

“Uruha, you’re just as bad. You’re late all the time. You care more about your boyfriend than you do us. And you drink all the goddamn time especially when we need you to have a clear head.”

“You drink too ‘mister perfect’” Uruha snapped. “How about you get off your perfect little high horse and come back down to earth with the rest of us? You’re not better than us.”

“I never said I was.”

“But you act like it.” Aoi scoffed. “You think because you’re the face of the band, because you make the merchandise that makes you the boss of us. Well you’re not. Without us you’re nothing.”

“Without me you guys are nothing.” Ruki snapped.

“What?” Kai gasped. “Our success comes from all of us not just you, you selfish asshole.”

Ruki glared at them. “If it wasn’t for me, Kai, you wouldn’t even be in this band. Reita and Uruha you guys would still be with that crappy band if I hadn’t convinced you to leave it. Aoi you wouldn’t have even joined if I hadn’t talked you in to doing it. So yeah, I played a big fucking part in this band.”

“You’re such an asshole.” Reita whispered. “I can’t believe I never noticed the change, but you’re not the Ruki you used to be.”

“Growing up means changing Reita. You should try it out sometime.”

“Ruki stop it.” Kai snapped. “Seriously this is not the time or place to be arguing.”

“I’m not the one who started it!” Ruki snapped.

Uruha rolled his eyes and looked ahead just as a fallen tree appeared in the road. “Kai look out!”

            Kai slammed the breaks and swerved to avoid the tree. The car slid across the icy road as it slipped passed the tree, but the back hit a few branches causing the car to go into a full spin. The car finally came to stop with all of them groaning in pain. Uruha rubbed his neck as he looked around at them all. Aoi cried out holding his left arm in pain and his shoulder looked weird. Reita’s body was limp with blood dripping down from his chin and there was a crack in the window. Kai groaned rubbing his hand on his forehead and Ruki was slumped in his seat, not moving.

“Is everyone okay?” Kai groaned.

“Fuck…no!” Aoi cried out.

“We’re hurt back here.” Uruha whimpered rubbing his sore neck. “Can you drive, Kai?”

“I think so.”

“We have to get off the road.”

Kai looked around. “I don’t even know if we’re on the road anymore.”

“I don’t have a signal on my phone.” Uruha said.

“Me either.” Kai gasped. “I’ll drive until we get one or find somewhere to stop.”

            He started moving the car slowly to try and find the road through all the snow. He looked around, but it was hard to see anything. As he drove he spotted the reflection of the guard rail which let him gain his bearings of the road. He moved towards the railing to get off the road when bright lights of a truck suddenly appeared. Kai jerked his car to the right, but the truck struck the back off it causing the car to spin again, but this time they hit the guard rail. The car tipped over it and rolled down the hill. Ruki opened his eyes as he felt his body rolling. His ears filled with the sound of metal crunching. He saw Kai’s body swinging like a rag doll as the van rolled over and over. The drummer’s body looked almost like it was floating in the air. Ruki’s eyes shut hearing his bandmates behind him screaming.

            Ruki opened his eyes expecting to be cold, sore, and possibly dying. What he didn’t expect was to wake up in a warm bed in a strange room. He sat up perfectly fine without a scratch on him. He looked around the dark to find the only light above him shining on the bed. He could hear something moving on the floor around him. He tried to see through the darkness, but couldn’t make anything out. He looked up to see the light hanging low from the ceiling and stood on the bed to grab it. He pointed it showing the floor completely covered in snakes as if it was made of the animals.

“The fuck?” He gasped. He shone the light all around the room and found a closed door across from him. He looked down at the slithering creatures below him and let the light go. “Okay…now what?”

            He took a few breaths before calling out for his friends. He didn’t get an answer, hell he didn’t even know if they were alive. He sat on the bed trying to think. They had gotten into another petty argument, Kai swerved the car for some reason and Ruki knew he had got knocked out. He remembered something else hitting the car before he blacked out again. So how did he end up here?

“I have to get out of here.”  He spoke to himself before pulling the blanket up, then the sheets too. He took the cases off the pillows and wrapped them around his feet. He grabbed the comforter and splayed it out over the snakes. Ruki grabbed the sheets before jumping onto the blanket. He walked quickly to the edge before splaying out one of the sheets and ran across it. He splayed out the other sheet which covered the rest of the way to the door. He swung it open to run through it then slammed it shut. He saw snakes trying to slither under it, but he took the pillow cases off his feet and stuffed them under the door.

            Feeling safe, Ruki looked around the hallway. It was dim, but he walked through it carefully. As he made his way down it he heard the hissing of snakes all around him. He quickened his pace as the sounds grew louder around him. Ruki spotted a door at the end of the hallway and ran the rest of the way to it. He went through it and slammed the door shut, panting for air. He turned to find a table lit up by a lone light. The rest of the room was pitch black so he walked carefully to it. As he approached it he found three items sitting on it: a gun, a knife, and a microphone. He stared at them for a moment when a female voice startled him.

“Which will you chose?” She asked.

He looked around the dark room. “Who’s there?”

“The gun…an object you’re not be familiar with. The knife…an object you rarely use. The microphone…an object you depend on. So which will it be?”

“Why are you asking me that? Who are you? Where are my friends?”

“They’re not here. The only way to find them is set yourself free. To do that you have to choose.”

Ruki looked back over the table he sighed and grabbed the knife. He held it tightly in his hand. “Okay now what?”

“Come and find me.” The voice said fading away.

            Ruki climbed up onto the table to grab the light and shined it around the room, but the light couldn’t pierce the darkness except for the pathway he came from. He let go of the light to jump down so he could walk back to the door. When he stepped out it wasn’t into the hallway from where he came from, but a large ballroom. He looked behind him to find the door gone and a wall had replaced it. He looked up at the moon shining through the glass panes of the ceiling, but there were no stars in the sky. The ballroom was empty, but had a staircase leading up to two large doors. Seeing as there was no other exit, Ruki started walking in that direction.

            He climbed the stairs and reached the doors in seconds, but when he tried to open them, they wouldn’t budge. Ruki noticed below one of the door handles was a hole with words written next it saying “unlock me”. He rolled his eyes as he sighed. Looking around the room once more he spotted a table in the middle of the dance floor.

“That…wasn’t there before…” He mumbled to himself. Ruki looked around again before walking back down the stairs to the lone table. On it was a curled up brown snake with black diamonds along its back. Its body was wrapped around a shiny silver key.

            Ruki slowly reached his hand towards the key, but jumped back with the snake’s tail began to make a rattling noise. Its head slowly raised to look right at Ruki. Its tongue flicked out as they stared at each other. The snake watched Ruki move slowly to the right, following him as he walked a complete circle around the table. He took a wary step closer and the snake struck its neck out, but Ruki was quick to jump back dodging the bite.

“Shit!” He gasped. The snake unwound itself as it slowly slithered to the floor towards Ruki. He walked back as the snake grew closer. As he did so, he felt something hit his shoulder. He looked to down at it as a snake was slithering on him. He shouted hitting the small snake off him, but another fell on his head. Ruki grabbed it and threw it off before looking up to see the ceiling. There was no glass, but an opened roof lined with snakes that were starting to fall.

            The larger snake moved forward, catching Ruki off guard. He ran to the side as the snakes began to chase him around the room. He looked over at the table cleared of snakes and made a beeline for it. As he got closer the large brown snake appeared in front of him. Ruki was caught off guard again, but this time he fell on his ass. His body began to shake and he couldn’t move as he watched the snake slither closer to him. He looked behind to see countless snakes moving closer. The large snake moved onto his leg as the smaller slithered over his hands and ankles. He watched as the snake moved up his legs to his shirt where it slipped under it.

            Ruki shuddered feeling the snakes scaly skin rub against his stomach. As it did, smaller snakes slithered up his pant legs and his arms. The large snake popped its head out of his shirt collar and slowly wrapped around his neck. It moved to look Ruki in the eye as it tightened its body around the singer’s neck. Ruki was shaking. Feeling snakes sliding all over his body was sickening, but his air being but of by one was terrifying. He closed his eyes and started to cry. He could feel the warm streams rolling down his cheeks as he started feeling light headed. He hadn’t been this scared or cried like this in years.

            _Ruki was helping cook on the grill when he felt something moving on his ankle. He looked down and found a snake wrapping around his ankle. He screamed and jumped back only to fall flat on his ass. His friends were all laughing at him, but even so they walked to him to help. Kai grabbed the snake’s tail and unwrapped it from Ruki’s ankle as Uruha used his own apron to wipe the tears that Ruki let out._

_“Don’t worry, it’s not venomous.” Reita laughed._

_“How do you know?” Ruki cried out._

_“Because we’re smart.” Aoi said._

_Kai rolled his eyes as he pulled the snake off. “While you were napping, the manager told us there were a bunch of small snakes around here, but none of them will hurt us. Reita and Aoi thought it would be funny not to tell you.”_

_Aoi and Reita helped him up, but were punched by the singer before he walked off. “You guys are jerks!”_

_“You love us anyways!” Uruha shouted, but was flipped off._

            Ruki laughed at the memory and opened his eyes to look at the snake. He clenched his fists ready for whatever was about to come, but felt something in his hand. He had completely forgotten about the knife he had. He felt completely and utterly dumb for forgetting. He reached up and grabbed the snake’s neck then stabbed the knife into its head. The snake went limp as he pulled the knife out. Ruki was able to unwrap the snake’s body from his neck and throw it across the room. He looked down to start pulling the smaller snakes off, but found them all gone. The ceiling wasn’t full of snakes either which confused him even more now. 

            He stood up slowly, making sure there weren’t any more snakes before running to the table to the grab the key. Once he had it, he made his way to the doors to unlock them. They opened up to another staircase going down into a circular room lit up by four blue flames. His body shivered and his hair stood up. His eyebrows dropped as he slowly turned around to find a huge serpent head looking straight at him. It thrusted forward, hitting Ruki with enough force to knock him down the stairs.

            Ruki rolled to a stop once he hit the bottom. He groaned in pain as he tried to move and even out his blurred vision. His ankle was burning as he tried to get up, but the pain was too much and he fell back down. He blinked a few times as the serpent slithered its way down into the room. Ruki remembered watching a documentary about an extinct snake that was a monstrous size. This snake reminded him of that thing. Before he could catch his bearings the snake moved in and wrapped around his whole body tightly. He was lifted up into the air as the snake curled part of it body beneath him. Ruki could feel his body slowly being crushed, but this time he couldn’t even move his arms to stab the damn thing. He doubt the knife would be able to do anything anyways.

            Ruki’s vision soon cleared up and he found himself looking at the serpent face to face. He swallowed hard looking into its black eyes. It moved closer, its forked tongue flickering as it did. It was mere inches from Ruki now as it slipped its tongue out and licked the singer’s face. Ruki shivered from the strange feeling. Ruki looked up at the snake’s eyes and felt something weird. Something familiar.

            _Ruki woke up looking at a familiar tattooed shoulder. He sat up to find his boyfriend still sound asleep. He smirked as he slowly crawled onto Kyo’s waist and leaned over him. Ruki was about to go in for a kiss when Kyo’s eyes opened, startling the younger vocalist. He smirked as he rolled them over so he was on top of Ruki. The younger singer wrapped his legs around his lover’s body and smiled up at him. He gazed into Kyo dark black eyes as the older man moved down to kiss him._

            Ruki shook his head to concentrate on the issue at hand and not on a distant memory. The snake let out a strange hiss noise as it continued to stare.

“What a happy memory.” It was the female voice from before and it was coming from the snake.

Ruki’s eyes widen. “You…you’re the one who spoke to me?”

“I am.” She said flicking her tongue. “His name is Kyo. What a lovely person to think of as you’re dying. Your lover?”

Ruki blushed as he looked away. “Was. Not anymore.”

“Oh, what happened?”

“Why are you asking that?” Ruki snapped at it. “Aren’t you trying to kill me?”

“All these questions yet none of them are the right ones to be asking.”

“What do you mean?”

The snake flicked its tongue again. “Tell me, what drove you and Kyo apart?”

“Stop asking me questions when I ask you a question!”

The snake made a sound resembling a laugh, but didn’t have any movements or expressions of it. It just continued to stare and it unnerved Ruki even more. “Ask the right ones and I’ll answer them. Now, did he leave because of your pride, or was it because you were unfaithful?”

“Shut up! Leave Kyo out of this!” Ruki yelled getting more frustrated.

“Or did he fall in love with somebody else?” The snake moved a little to the side. “Or was it that he just didn’t love you anymore?”

“I left him!” Ruki shouted, but then started to cry. “I left him because he wasn’t happy being with me anymore. I could see it. Every day the touches came less and less, then the kisses. Maybe it’s because of our line of work or maybe we just weren’t compatible like we thought. It was for the best.”

“Your pride got in the way of your love.” The snake spoke. “It chased away Kyo. Chased away your friends.”

“My friends?”

“Do you really believe they would stay with you after you spoke to them the way you did?”

“No…I mean I didn’t mean to say those things. They’ll forgive me once I tell them that.”

“But they won’t believe you. Things will only get worse from here on out. Your friends will break apart and leave you all alone in this world.”

Ruki shook his head. “No they won’t. They wouldn’t do that.”

“Of course they would. Why would they stay with an asshole like you?”

The singer glared at the snake. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“To teach you a lesson.”

“What lesson?”

The snake blinked for the first time as it stared at him. “A lesson of life and death. Friendship and hatred. Love and loneliness.”

“I don’t understand!” Ruki yelled out

“You still haven’t asked the right question yet.” The snake said tightening its hold. “And time is ticking.”

Ruki grunted from the pressure. So many things were going through his head all at once. He couldn’t concentrate. He felt the snake grow tighter around him and he screamed. All he and his friends were trying to do was drive to another concert. So why is this happening? Why is this happening? His eyes opened up.

“Where are my friends?”

“You’ll learn that after you leave here…well if you leave here.”

“Why…” Ruki thought carefully trying to ignore the fact that it was getting harder to breath. “Why am…I here? What the hell…is going on?”

The snake stopped moving and even loosened her grip on his body. “Ruki, like all others who have fallen into my realm, you must be tested.”

“Tested?”

“Yes, Ruki you and your friends are on the verge of death. It is my job to decide who lives and who moves on, but this decision is not an easy one to make. Some are worthy while others are not. So I like to play games with those who are borderline. I have given your life back so you shall live, however, if you fail to save your friends here, they die for real.”

Ruki stared at her with wide eyes as she slowly unwrapped her body from him and he was dropped to the ground. He groaned before slowly standing up. He hissed from the pain in his ankle, but ignored it. “Why did you choose me?”

“I played eeny meeny miny moe. You were just lucky.” She said then nodded her head forward towards a door. “Through there you’ll find four more doors. You may choose any one of them in any order. Behind each one is one of your friends and each one you save can help you save the next. Ruki don’t forget this. If you die in any of those houses, the ones you save shall live, but the ones you have yet to get to will die along with yourself.”

Ruki rubbed his head, it was a lot to take in at once. He looked up at the snake. “Why? Just why?”

“You’re on a time limit Ruki. You have until dawn to save them. I suggest you start moving now and ask questions later.”

Ruki couldn’t believe what was going on, but if the snake was right then he couldn’t waste time here. He’ll have to figure it out later, so he ran, as fast as his ankle would allow, to the door and opened it.

            Ruki stepped outside to find the ground covered in green grass and a gentle breeze blowing. He looked behind him to see a small house with the words ‘Snake House’ written above the door as it closed. He looked around and spotted four other small houses surrounding him with him being directly in the center. Each one had a pathway leading to the house he was at. The entire opening was surrounded by thick trees and darkness. He gripped the knife and started walking to the path on his right but froze with wide eyes. He looked down at his feet and bounced on them then stood on one of them. His ankle wasn’t hurting anymore. He shook his head not wanting to waste time with a question that wouldn’t get answered and started walking again. He made it up to the house which was the same size as the one he was in and looked up at what was written above the door. ‘Water House’. He took a deep breath and grabbed the door knob.


	2. Water House

            Once Ruki walked into the house he noticed something was off. He tightened his hold on the knife he had as he looked down to find water pooling around his ankles. The room was dim, but it was enough for him to see what was in the room, which was empty. Ruki turned around and wasn’t surprised when the door was gone. He took a deep breathe before walking deeper into the room. The water swished as he walked through the room. Ruki felt the water rising against his legs.

            He noticed an open doorway coming up where the water seemed to be gone. Ruki paused to compare the two rooms together. It didn’t seem possible the way the water was gone in the next room, but not flowing from this one into it. Ruki didn’t contemplate it for too long before walking into the room where he was able to walk with less resistance. It was brighter in this room. Ruki had to blink from the sudden light, but was shocked to find the light was coming from a large glass tank. It was cylinder shaped and reached the top of the tall ceiling.

            Ruki approached it slowly, but was startled when someone slammed his hands against the glass. The familiar face of his band leader was staring straight at him.

“Ruki!” Kai’s voice was muffled behind the glass as he banged his fists on it. Ruki ran up to it placing his hands on the glass looking around. Kai was soaked. Water in the tank was slowly rising and was already at Kai’s waist. “Ruki get me out of here!”

“I will. Just hang on!” Ruki shouted. He looked around the tank trying to find an opening, but found a lock at the bottom. The lock held together a rounded metal band that circled the tank. Ruki stood up and looked Kai in the eye. “I have to find a key. It should be somewhere nearby.”

Kai looked down at the rising water. “Hurry!”

“I will. I will.” Ruki gasped walking around the empty room. He found another doorway and looked back at his friend. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t leave me, Ruki!” Kai shouted, but the singer left the room quickly. Kai gripped his hair looking down at the rising water. “Please hurry, Ruki.”

            Ruki stepped into the next room to find water up to his chest. He lifted his feet up to swim through instead of trying to walk. Ruki spotted a caged locker with a silver key tied to the hook inside. Ruki smiled as he swam closer, but paused when he heard a splash. He turned to find a fin sticking out of the water heading straight towards him. Ruki’s eyes grew wide and he yelled as he started swimming faster to the locker. He heard the thing behind him pick up speed. Ruki grunted as he made it into the locker and slammed the door shut just as the thing slammed into it. The brownish grey shark turned and swam past showing the weird stripe markings on its side.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Ruki huffed. He grabbed the key off the hook and shoved it into his pocket all while the shark was swimming around the room.

            Ruki felt around the locker to see if there was anything in it he could use, but he wasn’t that lucky. All he had was the knife in his hand, but what good was that against a fucking shark. The singer watched the shark, but he couldn’t keep Kai waiting not with the water in the tank rising. Ruki was about to risk getting eaten so his friend wouldn’t drown. It was a necessary risk in his opinion. He opened the locker door and watched as the shark changed its direction towards him. His body shook as the shark’s speed increased.

Ruki tightened his hold on the knife as the water split in front of him. The shark opened its mouth and Ruki quickly shut the locker door just as the shark bit down. Its teeth went through the holes in the door as it ripped at the metal. The shark pulled away yanking the door open and off its hinges. Ruki yelped as he watched the shark swim away with the door in its mouth.

Ruki watched dumbfounded as the shark swung its head side to side trying to dislodge the door from its mouth. Ruki took this chance to swim through the water, but the shark turned around. The door came out of its mouth with a jerk and Ruki started to panic. He swam harder to get to the doorway. He didn’t want to look back to see just how close the shark was to him. He just kept the doorway in his sight as he pushed through the water. He went through the doorway falling onto the hard floor and the shark splashed as if it hit a wall. Ruki turned to see it turning away to swim back into the room.

            Ruki gasped for air as he climbed to his feet and ran to the tank. He pulled the key out of his pocket and stuck it in the lock, but it wouldn’t budge. He looked up to see the tank halfway full with Kai swimming to keep his head above the water line. Ruki pulled the key out and stepped back to look at his friend.

“It’s not working.”

Kai through his head back in frustration. “Ruki…don’t let me die.”

The singer shook his head. “I’m not going to let you die, I promise. I just have to find the right key.”

Ruki went back to the doorway that led to the shark, but only peeked inside. He didn’t see anything else in the room so he stepped back. He went back to the door he came in from, but found it was a different room than before. The water was over his head so he couldn’t see that well. However he spotted something yellow floating on top of the water. He looked back at Kai and nodded before going in.

            Ruki dove into the wall of water and swam up to the top. The room was almost completely flooded. He spotted the yellow object and swam to it. It was a flashlight with an adjustable strap on it. He switched it on and shined it around the water. He could see something moving under him, but it moved too fast for him to see what it was. Ruki strapped the flashlight around his wrist then took a few steady breathes before diving under the water. The water underneath was clear enough for him to see with the flashlight.

            He shined the light around and spotted something shiny at the bottom. He went up to the top to find that water had risen. He took in a deep breath before diving once more. He swam straight down towards the shiny item and almost made it when he felt something wrap around his leg. Ruki looked behind him just as more tentacles wrapped around his legs and arms. One wrapped around his chest tightly making air bubbles come out of his mouth.

‘What the fuck?’ He thought. The squishy creature moved up so Ruki could see the white squid. ‘You have to be kidding me.’

            Ruki groaned feeling his chest start to burn. His eyes widen feeling a tentacle slide into his pants. He pulled at the tentacles struggling to get away, but it seemed too strong to get free. Ruki moved his neck down as his arm was being lifted up and he bit down on the tentacle. It loosened up, but at the same time the one in his pants gripped him between the legs. Ruki pulled his arm out and stabbed the knife he had into the tentacle on his other arm. The squid let go and squirted ink at him as it swam away. Ruki swam out of the ink and looked around to find the shiny thing was another key. He quickly swam to it to grab it.

Once it was in his hand he took off towards the exit. His chest began to burn as the urge to breath grew stronger. His body stopped moving as he tried to breathe taking in water instead. Tentacles wrapped around his stomach and jerked him up. Before he knew it, he was thrown into the air and slammed into the ceiling. He coughed out the water in his lungs and took in air into his burning chest. The tentacle pulled him back down barely giving him enough time to hold his breath again before going under.

He felt more tentacles wrapped around his body, some slipping into his shirt and pants. He still had the knife in his hand, but it didn’t seem to do much damage the first time he stabbed it.

‘Damn this thing.’ He thought feeling it move all over his body. He shivered as one of the tentacles rubbed against his ass and slipped between his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut shaking at the feeling.

_“Hey, Kyo.” Ruki whispered sitting on the couch. His lover was next to him writing in a notebook._

_“Hmm?” He hummed acknowledging the other singer._

_“We should go out or something.”_

_“Hmm.”_

_Ruki sighed. “Are you evening listening?”_

_“Yeah, sure. We can have pizza.”_

_Ruki sighed and stood up. He stomped out of the living room and went straight to his room. He laid on the bed stomach down and pulled his pillow to his face. Kyo had been ignoring him again and he was frustrated. He felt the bed dib and smiled when Kyo laid on top of him. Ruki closed his eyes feeling Kyo’s lip on his neck._

_“Pizza and a movie tonight.” Kyo whispered. He made Ruki turn over on his back to look him in the eye. “But first, let me spoil you.”_

_Ruki blushed as his lover moved down to kiss him._

            Ruki clenched his teeth as he yanked at the tentacles. Kyo was the only one allowed to touch him. There was no way he was going to allow this thing to violate him. He kicked his legs and yanked his arms. One of his arms came loose from the tentacle and he stabbed his knife multiple times in the tentacles around him. The squid let go, but swam under Ruki, grabbing his ankle once more to drag him through the water. It was swam around yanking Ruki’s body in every direction. The force was making him unable to move his body. His chest was starting to burn again with the urge to breath.

            The squid suddenly let him go, sending him floating through the water. Ruki was disoriented, but started swimming. He caught sight of the squid swimming towards him and he was once again wrapped up in the tentacles, but one of his arms was missed. The one which held the knife. The squid brought him close to his head and Ruki took this chance to stab it in its large eye. The squid let go and started swimming erratically.

            Ruki took this chance to use the flash light to find his exit. He spotted the doorway and swam straight to it. He didn’t care that his lungs burned or that the squid could be chasing after him right then. He put all his strength in one last push through the water when he went through the doorway and into the opened room. Ruki gasped for air as he landed hard on the floor. He rolled onto his hands knees coughing. His body shook as he stood up and looked at the tank. It was almost full with Kai at the top, his face barely above the water. Ruki ran to the tank just as the water covered Kai’s face. The drummer swam down to watch Ruki through the glass. The singer put the key in the lock and tried to turn it, but wouldn’t budge.

            Ruki gasped and looked up at Kai with watery eyes. Kai pressed his hands against the glass and Ruki lined his own hands up with the drummer. Ruki began to cry,

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He whimpered. Kai gave him a small smile before putting a hand over his mouth. A few air bubble escaped his lips. “No!”

Ruki started hitting the glass with his fists then started bashing the flashlight on the glass, but it was no use. Kai’s eyes squeezed shut as more air escaped from his mouth. Ruki screamed banging the glass with his fists. Kai let out more air then stilled and his body just floated there.

“No, no, no!” Ruki screamed out hitting the tank. He cried out and turned putting his back against the tank. He slammed his head back against it and cried.

            _“Ruki!” Kai shouted and tackled him with a hug. They landed roughly on the floor and laughed. “Oh shit, that was so much fun.”_

_“Kai, get off me!” Ruki laughed pushing his friend off. He smiled at his friend as their other friends stood up laughing. “We won!”_

_Reita rolled his eyes as he stretched walking to his kitchen. Aoi followed close behind as Uruha ran to the bathroom. Kai laid his head on Ruki’s lap which made the singer smiled. “You’re getting too excited over a videogame.”_

_“Yeah, but it’s the first time in a long time since we’ve done this. Besides the last time the two of us were on a team we lost pretty badly.”_

_Ruki rolled his eyes. “True. Want to play another round?”_

_Kai nodded. “Of course.”_

_“I’m going to get a beer first.”_

_“Grab me one, too!” Kai smiled and Ruki nodded. He walked up to the kitchen and saw Reita pinned against the wall by Aoi. The raven was holding Reita’s hands up against the wall as he dominated the kiss. They were so distracted by each other they didn’t even notice Ruki come, grab a couple of beers, then leave. He plopped down next to Kai and just as Uruha walked back in._

_“Well, Aoi and Reita are making out in the kitchen.” Ruki sighed._

_Kai made a funny face. “I thought they ended their relationship.”_

_“They did.” Uruha said._

_“You know those two, on and off again.” Ruki said._

_“Speaking of relationships, when is Kyo supposed to get back?” Kai asked._

_Ruki shrugged his shoulders and looked down. “I don’t know.”_

_“Is everything okay?”_

_Ruki gave his friend a soft smile. “I don’t know.”_

_“It’ll work out.” Kai said, rubbing Ruki’s thigh. “Don’t worry.”_

_“Thanks, Kai.”_

            Ruki sniffled as he looked up and wiped his cheeks off when he noticed a lock on the wall. He walked to it and touched it before looking at the key in his hand. He tried it on the lock, but it didn’t work. Ruki was about to scream again when he remembered the first key. He pulled it out of his pocket and tried it instead. The lock clicked and he pulled it off. When he did, a door opened up. Inside the small hidden compartment was a hammer.

            Ruki yanked the hammer out and looked back at the tank. He ran to it and with all his strength he swung it onto the tank. The glass cracked and Ruki didn’t hesitate to swing the hammer again. The metal head stuck into the glass as water squirted out. Ruki yanked it out causing the glass to crack all over and creak. The glass shattered, the water poured out, and Kai flowed out onto the floor. Ruki ran to his friend and turned him on his back.

“Kai, wake up. You’re out now, so wake up.” Ruki cried pressing his hands down on the drummer’s chest. He shook his friend’s body and pressed his hands harder on Kai’s chest. The drummer’s eyes widen as water spurted out of his mouth as he coughed. Ruki laughed and hugged his friend as he gasped for air.

            They sat there for a moment so Kai could catch his breath and so Ruki could calm down. He was so sure his friend had died. Kai sat up and rubbed his chest as he looked around the room. He looked at the water around his fingers.

“Ruki, what the hell is going on?” Kai gasped.

“It’s complicated…and you may not believe me.”

“I woke up in a tank, saw you swim away from a shark, and I almost drowned. Not to mention the water is weird as hell here. Try me.”

Ruki nodded and proceeded to tell Kai about his own experience in the Snake House. What he was told he had to do, what they had to do to save their friends. Kai’s mind was blown, but considering he almost just died he had no choice but to believe his friend.

            Kai dropped his head and noticed the water had moved up to his wrist. He stared at his hand for a moment, watching as the water was slowly moving up.

“Ruki.”

“Yeah?” Ruki breathed out.

“The water’s rising.” Kai said. Ruki looked down then at his friend.

“We have to get out of here.”

They jumped to their feet and looked around the room. The only two exits was the shark room and the squid room. Ruki shivered thinking about either room.

“How do we get out?”

Ruki pull out the second key. “This goes to something. We need to figure out what. Now the shark is still very much alive, but I took out the squid’s eye. It may not have lived. We can go through that room, maybe there’s a door in there.”

“Your ‘may not’ statement worries me.”

Ruki shook his head. “It worries me, too, but I rather face a blind squid than a hungry shark.”

“I rather not face either.”

Ruki nodded and picked up the hammer to hand to his friend. “Might want to hang onto this.”

Kai agreed as he took it and slipped it into the waist band of his pants. Ruki grabbed the knife he had dropped and took a deep breath.

            They walked up to the squid room taking one last look at the floor to see that the water was at their ankles already. They needed to move. They dove into the wall of water and Ruki turned on the flashlight he still had strapped to his wrist. He shined it around looking for an exit. They saw the squid lying motionless on the floor. They swam around until the needed air and went back out to the room with the tank. In there they caught their breath, but the water was at their waists. It was almost at the same level as the water in the shark room. They needed to get out now.

            Ruki pulled Kai away and they dove back into the squid room to swim around some more. Ruki shined the light around when Kai tugged his arm. The singer looked at his friend who was pointing up. They swam upwards to the ceiling and felt it for anything that could be a door handle. Kai coughed out some air bubbles. Ruki looked at him worriedly then looked down in time to see the tiger shark swimming into the room. Ruki’s eyes widen as he moved his hands over the solid ceiling when his finger grazed something. He shined the light on the hole. He quickly stuck the key in it and turned it in a full circle big enough for a single person to fit through it.

            A circle like door popped open so he and kai pushed up on it. The door swung up and Ruki helped Kai go through it first. Ruki looked down to see the shark swimming at full spend towards him. Ruki gasped out a bunch of bubbles, but Kai had reached into pull his friend out. The shark bit down, but missed Ruki’s feet as it swam by. The singer gasped for air as Kai quickly shut the door and watched as the cracks disappeared. Kai stared wide eyed and felt the floor, but no trace of the door was there anymore.

            They took a minute catch their breaths before standing back up. Ruki looked around at the bare room and rubbed his forehead.

“It never fucking ends” He gasped.

“Ruki.” Kai caught his attention and pointed the floor, overflowing with water. “Now what?”

“I don’t know.” Ruki sniffled. “I don’t know what to do, Kai.”

The drummer shook his head. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

Just as he said that, they heard a weird noise come from the far right wall. They looked at it as it began to crack and water started spraying out. The same noise came from the opposite wall as more water came pouring in. Within seconds water was at their waists. They stared at each other and Ruki dropped his head. Kai walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

“It’s okay Ruki.”

“No its not. Kai it’s my fault. All of this is. I fought with you guys and said things that weren’t true. I distracted you when you were driving.”

Kai shook his head. “No, Ruki this isn’t just your fault. Okay we were all fighting. We all said things that we shouldn’t have, but right now isn’t the time to talk about it. We need to wait until we’re all together. When we’re all safe. If what you said is true, then our friends are in serious danger and we need to help them.”

Ruki pulled away and wiped his nose on his arm. “You’re right.”

Kai patted Ruki’s head. “It’ll all be okay. We’re friends and friends fight sometimes. We’ll figure it out, but let’s get out of here first, before we drown.”

            At this point the water had made it up to their chests. They looked around the room when they heard another cracking noise from above them. Just as they looked up the ceiling caved in and a waterfall poured in. They quickly swam to the side of the room as the water kept rising. By the time they made it to the wall, they were almost at the top of the room. Their noses pressed against the ceiling to get what air they could before the water covered their faces.

            Ruki shined the flashlight between them as they went under water, but it flickered and went out leaving them in complete darkness. They quickly swung their arms out and grabbed each other’s hands. Ruki felt his head pound as silence took over. He closed his eyes knowing that this was the end. Kai squeezed his hand to reassure him that he wasn’t alone and Ruki squeezed back.

            A deep pop filled Ruki’s ears and he was suddenly being sucked down. The force caused him to lose his grip on Kai’s hand. He felt his body twist and turn as it went up then down. Before he knew it he was flying in the air then landing in grass and dirt. He coughed opening his eyes as he sat up on all fours, but another spray of water hit him along with Kai’s body.

            They cough and looked at each before looking at the door closing on the small house. Ruki laid back for a moment to catch his breath as Kai sat up to assess the situation. Once he was breathing normally, Ruki stood up with Kai next to him. They stood quietly for a moment before Kai looked at the singer.

“There is no possible way to explain how weird this is.”

Ruki nodded. “Agreed.”

“Now what?” The drummer asked.

“Now we pick another house and help another friend.” Ruki said wringing his shirt of water.

“Hopefully it’ll be drier.”

Ruki laughed a little at that. He walked down the path with Kai following close behind and their shoes made squishy noises in the process. Ruki unwrapped the flashlight from his wrist and tossed to the side since it didn’t work anymore. He kept a steady hold of his knife as Kai pulled his hammer out. They made it up to the next house over and looked up at the writing above the door. ‘Insect House’.

“Ready?” Ruki asked.

“Ready.” Kai breathed out and Ruki turned the door knob.


	3. Insect House

            Ruki and Kai slowly walked into the house ready for anything to happen as they made their way through the door. Kai turned to close the door, but found it already gone. He stared wide eyed at the wall before Ruki’s footsteps caught his attention. The room was so dark he could barely see, so he quickly caught up to Ruki.

            As they continued to walk they started hearing crunching noises coming from their feet. Kai’s eyes had adjusted to the dark and was able to make out Ruki’s form next to him, but he couldn’t tell what kind of expression he had. As they moved further in, the crunching became louder and more frequent. Kai stepped down crushing whatever is below them and slipped. He grabbed Ruki’s shoulder catching his balance. They stood still listening to the weird crawling noises. Ruki shivered.

“Kai, you don’t think…”

The drummer groaned. “Well it did say insect house.”

“I hate this one already.”

“Same.” The drummer whispered. “Let’s just keep moving. There has to be a light somewhere near here.”

Before Ruki could respond a loud scream echoed through the halls. They were startled by the noise, but started jogging towards the scream. Kai held onto Ruki’s shoulder so they wouldn’t lose each other going through the darkness when the singer suddenly disappeared. Before Kai could acknowledge his friend’s scream, the drummer’s own body dropped down.

            Their screams echoed as they slid down a slick wall all the way down to hard a flooring covered in sticks. Ruki rolled as he landed, but was collided into by Kai. They both groaned trying to catch their bearings feeling around the floor. Ruki’s body shivered when his hand brushed something small with legs and he yelped. Kai was feeling around when he grabbed something in his hand.

“Sticks are all over the place.” He mumbled. “Maybe we could light one up.”

“How?”

“I have my lighter. I don’t know if it will work though.”

Ruki hummed hesitant to feel around anymore. He reached out with shaky hands to feel around for anything he could use. He felt weird sticks and rocks as he grazed his fingers around. Kai pulled his lighter out of his pocket and tried to light it, but it barely made any sparks. He sighed as he placed it back into his pocket.

            Ruki reached out to find a stick like thing. He felt it, finding the top part had a metal ring around it with a wick. Definitely a torch, but they had to figure out how to light it. Kai was startled by another scream, this time though it was louder.

“I found a torch, too” Ruki sighed. “But we need to light them.”

Kai groaned in frustration. He knew better than to move from his spot because any wrong turn and he could end up separated from Ruki. The singer stood up just as another long scream echoed around them. He went to reach out to grab onto Kai when he felt something hit his hand. He shivered as another thing landed on his shoulder.

“Ruki,” Kai’s voice shook. “Things are falling on me.”

“Same.”

“Please tell me they’re not insects or bugs or…just…”

“Let’s ignore them.” Ruki said, but he something move on his neck. He screamed out and started his hitting his back. As he did he stepped back into Kai making him yell out and they both fell to the floor. “Get it off, get it off!”

Kai grabbed his friend and started swiping all over him to get whatever was on his friend, off. Kai managed to get the crawler off Ruki’s back and they became silent before Kai snorted a laugh. Ruki smacked his friend on the chest.

“Don’t tell anyone that happened.”

“No promises.” Kai giggled.

            They untangled themselves from each other before sitting back and calming down. Kai leaned on his arms back only to place them on something strange. He pulled at it causing the sticks to clack together.

“Ruki, I grabbed…a pair of pants?”

“What?”

“Yeah…” Kai laughed feeling them. He felt some sticks fall out as he patted the pockets. He felt something square in them and pulled it out. He felt the metal like object before flipping it open. Kai knew exactly what it was and flicked the flame on the zippo lighter.

“Oh hell yeah.” Ruki said putting the end of the torch to the flame. The torch lit up, brightening the room around them.

“Sweet, light mine too.” Kai said putting up his, but when he did he noticed that not only was it white, it was shaped weird, too. His eyes widen realizing what it really was and he dropped it with a deep scream.

            They both jumped to their feet and moved the torch around showing all the bones, skulls, and insects that surrounded them. Kai grabbed onto Ruki’s arm and moved closer, kicking more bones in the process. They were frozen in their spots looking at the cracked skulls, some bones wrapped in tattered clothing, the jaws with missing teeth, and the large piles some bones made up.

“We have to get out of here.” Kai whispered.

“Agreed.”

Another loud scream came from behind them and they turned with the torch to see an opened pathway free of bones, but was made of centipedes. They both shivered, but started walking to it. They knew one of their friends was in trouble and the only way to get to them was to go through this path.

            They followed the path ignoring the squishing under their feet and grabbed each other as they slipped around. As they walked, the screams grew louder and more frequent. They spotted an opening free of insects or bones and quickened their pace. As they made it through the doorway, they heard a scream as if it was right next to them, but the torch wasn’t bright enough to light up the room. Ruki waved the torch around and found another torch sitting on the wall. He put his own torch against it to light it up. The torch lit up, but suddenly a ring of fire lit along a metal guide in the wall. It lit up the whole room as the flames circle around all the walls. In the center of the room was a black coffin with three locks holding the door shut on it.

            They jumped when the lid shook and a loud scream came from it. Ruki and Kai ran straight to it to gently hit it.

“It’s Ruki and Kai. Are you okay in there?” Ruki asked.

“Help me!” The voice screamed. “They’re biting! They won’t stop biting!”

Kai and Ruki looked at each other before pulling at the locks. Kai patted the lid. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out.”

“We have to find the keys.” Ruki gasped. They looked around the empty room when three doors appeared. A loud scream startled them again and Kai dropped his arm feeling the hammer in his waistband.

He pulled it out and spoke. “No we don’t.”

            Ruki watched as Kai hooked the fork end on the lock and pulled at it. Ruki grabbed the handle to help add leverage. The lock popped off with ease. The two quickly got the other two locks and flipped the top open. Inside was Uruha squirming and swiping centipedes off his body. Kai and Ruki pulled the guitarist up and out of the coffin. They laid him down to start hitting the insects off him showing his bloody bite marks.

Uruha was crying and shaking as they pulled the last few insects off his body. Sniffling as he gasped for air, Uruha’s face was covered in tears. Kai helped his shaking friend sit up and was pulling into a hug for it. Ruki sat behind him and rubbed his back.

_“Ruki!” Uruha shouted running into the practice room, startling the singer. Before he could ask what was wrong, Uruha dropped to his knees and started crying on his lap._

_“Uru, what’s going on?” Ruki asked rubbing his friend’s back._

_“Totchi…Totchi and I got into a fight.” Uruha cried. “He…he says he doesn’t want to see me…he hates me…”_

_Ruki rolled his eyes and smiled. “He doesn’t hate you, Uruha. Couples fight every once in a while. I bet you anything that he’ll be calling you by tonight to apologize. Toshiya can’t go a day without talking to his cute lover.”_

_Uruha laughed sniffling as he sat up. “I doubt it. He was really mad at me.”_

_“Then he’s an idiot.” Ruki said. Before Uruha could respond, his phone started ringing. He looked at it then at his friend before answering. Ruki listened as Uruha sniffled while talking to his lover then went to laughing and smiling. Uruha gave Ruki a small wave before leaving the room._

            Ruki was stepping on the scattering beetles as Uruha composed himself in Kai’s arms. The drummer tore a piece of his shirt off to try and wipe some of the blood off. As they were doing all this, the all the doorways vanished leaving them without an exit. The insects started running towards them and Uruha whimpered pressing against Kai again as the little critters went around them. Ruki watched as the insects all went inside the coffin, then it closed.

“What is going on?” Uruha cried out.

            Seeing as there was no current escape from the room, they sat down and explained the situation to Uruha, who still in shock, was in disbelief. He rubbed his head, finally dried up of tears.

“That doesn’t make sense. We were in a car wreck. I remember Aoi and me crawling out into the snow. I was… cut up. The windshield broke and glass went everywhere. You two were just hanging in the car…but then…everything got blurry. I remember the snow being red and then…then I was trapped in that thing.”

“Yeah, but the snake says this is a test.” Ruki reminded him. “We have to make it out of this alive or else we really do die.”

“What the actually fuck Ruki?” Uruha snapped standing up. “This is the most fucked up shit I’ve ever heard of. We are not dying. We are alive. We…you are insane. There is no such thing as a talking snake!”

“Uruha it’s hard to believe, I know.” Kai said. “But look around this isn’t normal. Doors appearing and disappearing. Us being separated in houses. I woke up in a tank, you woke in a coffin. I saw… water defying gravity. Insects retreating into a coffin.”

Uruha shook his head as tears flooded his years. “This can’t be happening…I just…I want to go home. Totchi and I had plans when I got back home. So…”

“Uruha,” Ruki said standing up. The guitarist hugged him and cried more. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Ruki, I’m scared.”

“I know, we are too, but the only way for us to get out of here is to clear our heads.” Ruki said.

Uruha nodded. “We have to get home.”

“But first, we have to get out of this house and save our friends.” Kai said standing up. “Let’s get to work.”

            The three of them started feeling the walls of the empty room to see if there was a hidden door, but one didn’t show up, so they started focusing on the coffin. Uruha stepped back and let his friend mess with it. He was still shaking from his ordeal. Ruki and Kai understood and didn’t say anything as they felt around the coffin. Kai felt the lid then placed his ear against it for a moment. He raised up and moved to lift the lid, but Uruha shouted at him and slammed it back closed.

“What are you doing?” Uruha snapped at him. “Those things will bite me again.”

Kai looked at all the bite marks on Uruha’s skin and his shaking lips before patting his friend’s shoulder. “Put your ear to it. There’s nothing moving inside.”

Uruha was hesitant at first before he slowly placed his ear on it along with Ruki. They listened carefully, but didn’t hear anything so they moved away and watched as Kai lifted the lid up. Their eyes widen seeing a staircase leading deep into the floor. Uruha groaned.

            Ruki grabbed the torch he had dropped and looked down at the dark hole. Uruha walked up behind him and held the singer’s hand as Kai took the guitarist’s shoulder. Ruki took a steady breath as he started walking down the steps. The light was enough to see the steps in front of them, but not enough to pierce through the darkness. The only sounds they heard was their own footsteps as they climbed down the stairs.

            Ruki heard a strange noise and stopped suddenly making Uruha bump into him. They stood quietly as the sound of something crawling nearby. Kai pulled out his hammer and Ruki realized his knife was gone. He must have dropped it when they rolled down the into the bone pit. They heard the same crawling noise again and Uruha groaned. Ruki turned to face his friends.

“Let’s go.”

            They continued down the staircase finally finding the ending inside a large dome like room. They heard the crawling above their heads and looked up to see a giant centipede crawling on the ceiling. Uruha gripped his friends’ arms gasping.

“Holy shit.” The guitarist gasped.

“We’re going to need a bigger hammer.” Kai whispered.

“I lost my knife, too.”

“Joy…” The drummer mumbled. The centipede bent back with its antennas twitching around before its hundreds of legs started moving. They watched the giant centipede head straight towards them. Kai grabbed Uruha’s arm and pulled him to the side as Ruki ran the other way. The centipede looked between them before going after Ruki. The thing was fast and knocked Ruki over within seconds. Kai threw his hammer at the insect, but it ignored the drummer’s attack.

            Ruki turned his head feeling the centipede above him before suddenly feeling hundreds of little legs crawling over him. Normal sized centipedes were crawling all over his body covering his legs completely. He cried out as he kicked his feet trying to knock them off. Kai wanted to help, but he didn’t know what to do then Uruha started screaming, Kai turned to find his friend being covered in centipedes trying to shake them off. Uruha fell to the floor trying to get them off. Kai dropped to his knees to start swiping the insects off only have them start crawling on him.

            Ruki groaned feeling the centipedes all over his body and cried out feeling them biting his skin. The giant centipede crawled away towards the other two and quickly picked Uruha up in its jaws.

“Uru!” Ruki yelled. His friend screamed punching at the centipede’s head. Kai screamed out as he rolled around on the floor trying to the insects off his body. Ruki rolled over as more started biting his legs and noticed the torch still on fire. He jumped to his feet and ran to it. He was quick to graze the fire near his body enough that the centipedes tried crawling away from him. They fell off his body as he looked up to see Uruha. The guitarist was being moved down the centipede’s legs. Ruki ran to Kai and waved the fire over Kai’s body making the centipedes scatter and the drummer flicked off the remaining bugs.

 Ruki stepped on a few scattering by him and the giant centipede crawled down a little before charging in again. As it made its way down, it dropped Uruha hard on the floor and he stopped moving.

“Kai.” Ruki gasped.

“Yeah?” Kai’s voice squeaked watching the centipede head straight for them.

“Get to Uruha.” Ruki ordered before stepping on more small centipedes and taking off toward the stairs. The giant centipede crawled on the wall over Kai before going after Ruki into the stairwell. Kai didn’t waste any time before running to his friend and wiping off the insects. Uruha groaned as he slowly sat up jumping when he saw the insects on him. He whimpered smacking them away.

            Ruki climbed the stairs as fast as he could hearing the centipede close behind him, but the thing let out a squeal. Ruki risked a peek behind him. The centipede was struggling to move through the stairway and was able move up a little, but was stuck again. Ruki kept running up feeling his legs and thighs cramping. He pushed through trying to get this thing away from his friends. He heard it break through the tight fit behind him.

            Ruki thought he wouldn’t make it out of the coffin, but when he did he was thrown up into the air as the centipede broke through the coffin door. Ruki grunted slamming into the ground. Ruki’s vision was blurry, but he could still see the centipede flinging its head around to throw off the coffin. Ruki flinched when the wooden coffin hit the floor and broke into pieces. He started crawling away, but was picked up and slammed into the wall by the centipede. His vision went black and his body limped.

            _Ruki looked around the dark hallway as he made his way down to the only room with a light on. He peeked inside when he heard moaning and saw the back of the couch and Uruha’s head moving up as he moaned out. Ruki knew Toshiya was under his friend’s body. Ruki sighed as he turned away and walked back down the hall. He was sure that Kyo would be there, but he wasn’t. Ruki looked sadly at the small gift box he had brought with him._

_Kyo and he hadn’t seen each other in a couple of weeks, so Ruki was really looking forward to meeting with him. He was heading to the elevators, going down the small stairs when someone called his name. He turned, but as he did his feet caught each other and he fell back. He hit his head on the bottom step and his vision went black. He felt someone rub his shoulders and as his vision cleared up a little. He smiled._

_“Kyo…”_

            “Ruki!” Kai shouted and Ruki opened his eyes. He was still pinned up against the wall, but his friends were at the door entrance. Ruki noticed the only reason the centipede hadn’t crushed him yet was because of a piece of wood sticking out from beside its jaw. The wood was propped against the wall beside Ruki’s body preventing the centipede’s head from moving anymore.

            Kai had gotten Uruha up to his feet before they started going up the stairs. They went as fast as they could and when they got back to the top they found the centipede pinning Ruki against the wall. The centipede was yanking its body around and they realized its jaws was stuck in the wall.

“What do we do?” Uruha gasped. Kai looked at the fire still burning and the metal guide was above the centipede’s tail. Kai tapped Uruha’s arm telling him to follow. They ran around the tail and to the wall.

“Lift me up.” Kai ordered.

“What?”

“Just do it.” He snapped. Uruha maneuvered to where Kai was able to climb on his shoulders and sat on him. Kai grabbed the metal guide and hissed yanking his hands away. He pulled his shirt off to wrap his hands with it. He grabbed the metal guide again, yanking at it. The metal creaked as it gave way from the wall. The metal bent out and Kai moved back, falling off Uruha’s shoulders.

            Ruki struggled hearing the wood start to give away and he tried wiggling out of the centipede’s grasp. He watched as his friends were working the metal guide towards the centipede, but its tail was moving back and forth. Kai climbed back on Uruha’s shoulders and they moved under the metal guide. Kai started pulling down on it, with fire already dripping down in front of Uruha’s feet. The drummer’s face was turning red as he pulled down on the metal guide more until it was angled enough the oil fire started pouring. Uruha moved back and the two fell down, but they were quick to run away.

            Unaware of the fire, the centipede waved its body around trying to unpin its jaw and its tail whipped right under the fire. It let out a screeching noise as it pulled away, yanking its jaws out of the wall letting Ruki fall to the floor. It continued to screech as its whole body caught on fire along with the room. Kai pulled Uruha up as he ran to Ruki. They helped the singer up to his feet before running to the staircase where they made their escape. As they made it towards the bottom, the steps turned into a slide and they slid down to the bottom.

            They came rolling to a stop and a torch, still on fire dropped, between them. They all groaned, sitting up in the dim room.

“Ruki, are you okay?” Kai asked putting his shirt back on.

“Yeah, I’ll live” He groaned.

“You guys are bit up.” Uruha whispered. They looked at each other, noticing all the bloody bug bites on their arms, necks, and faces. Ruki rubbed his head. The sound of glass shattering filled his ears

            _Ruki watched as Kai’s body flung like a rag doll as the car rolled. It was all slow as he blinked and watched as a branch came into the window spraying glass everywhere. Uruha started screaming right after that and Ruki felt his hands stinging._

            Ruki blinked for a few minutes as he studied his friends. He noticed a small red mark on Kai’s forehead and gently poked it making him flinch.

“What?” Kai asked.

“What happened to your head?”

Kai hummed while rubbing it. “Well, when I was in the tank and you decided to swim with a shark, I kind of freaked out and slammed my head into the glass. You know thinking I could get out.”

“You’re an idiot.” Uruha said.

“I was frustrated.”

“You hit your head in the car. When we rolled, you were flying in the car like you were floating in water. I hit my head and I remember…my hands getting cut up.” Ruki said lifting his bloody hands. “Right after the windshield got smashed in.”

Uruha looked down at his bug bites. “I remember…the glass hitting me all over.”

“Wait, what are you thinking Ruki?”

“Well, the snake said this was a test for us to decide if we should live or die. She brought us here when we were borderline with death. Maybe we’re getting the wounds we had in our accident. I mean Kai and I were in the front seat, you were in the middle in the back. We were all in the spots to be hit with the most with glass.”

“Ruki…” Uruha gasped. “What does this mean?”

“I think,” Kai spoke, “it means were closer to living. Like Ruki said, we were borderline with death, maybe seeing our injuries means we’re going to live?”

            Just as he said that, they heard a loud buzzing noise coming from behind them. Ruki lifted the torch as the stood up and saw a giant wasp flying. The three of them jumped to their feet and took off running away. They kept going faster and faster until the floor disappeared from under them. They screamed as they landed on a slide. They dipped down, then shot up and went flying through the air with the wasp right behind them.

            The wind blew past them as they went flying through the house doorway, Kai landing first, Ruki landing on him, then Uruha on top of the pile. They heard the door slam shut behind them as they groaned. Kai sat up pushing his friends off him and they all laid on their backs catching their breaths.

“Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate roller coasters?” Ruki gasped making the other two laugh.

“That was an adrenaline rush I didn’t need or want.” Uruha said.

Kai sat up. “How long do we have to get those two out of the houses again?”

“By dawn.”

Kai nodded. “It’s still pretty dark out. Let’s rest for a little bit.”

“No,” Ruki said standing up. “We don’t know how long it took to get you guys out. I don’t know how long it will take to get Reita and Aoi out. We need to get to them as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more likely we’ll lose them.”

Uruha sighed standing up with Kai. They followed the singer without a complaint to the next house in the pathways. Ruki grabbed the door knob as he read the writing above the door. ‘Time House.’

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Kai sighed.

“Same…I guess?” Uruha said with a shaky voice. “Just as long as there are no more bugs.”

Ruki smirked as he twisted the doorknob.


	4. Time House

            The moment Ruki walked into the house he felt something off, but he couldn’t quite place it. The room was definitely different than the dark houses he was in before. This one was lit up with a hallway that split into two directions at the end. He turned to talk to his friends when he got a shock he wasn’t expecting. Behind him stood Uruha as a teenager and Kai as a small kid.

“Holy shit!” They all shouted.

Uruha grabbed his throat and spoke with a cracking voice. “What the hell?”

“I’m short!” Kai squealed. “I’m a kid!”

“I feel normal.” Ruki said earning glares from his friends.

“You look…older?” Kai said unsure.

“Not really.” Uruha grumbled.

“Let’s find whoever’s in this one and get out please.” The drummer whined.

            They agreed and started walking into the hallway taking the first right. They followed the hallways choosing to go straight, then right, then left and at the next section they stopped. They realized something was very different with this house. Ruki turned around surprised to see that the hallways were still there. Ruki started walking, backtracking their way until they ended up at a wall that Ruki assumed was where they came in from.

            They went back taking the same turns as before until they reached the intersection they first stopped at. They all knew what was going on without having to say a word. They were in a maze. Ruki looked in each direction, but each hall looked the same way. They didn’t have time for this.

“This way!” Kai shouted laughing as he started running to the right.

“Kai!” Uruha and Ruki shouted as they started running behind the kid sized leader. Uruha ran ahead and swiped Kai up into his arms before pushing him onto Ruki.

“Kai why did you run like that?” Ruki snapped and the brunette’s eyes watered up before he began crying.

 _“I just wanted…to help!”_ He cried.

“Way to go, you made him cry.” Uruha said rolling his eyes.

“Don’t get that attitude with me.” Ruki snapped then smiled down at Kai and started bouncing him in his arms. “Kai you can’t go running off like that. We don’t know what kind of dangers are in here. Okay, so you have to stay with us. No more running off.”

“Okay.” Kai sniffled wiping his eyes. Ruki let him back down and he went straight to hold Uruha’s hand. The guitarist pulled his hand away with a glare.

“Uruha, hold his hand.” Ruki ordered. Uruha kissed his teeth before taking Kai’s smaller hand and following Ruki down the hallway.

            After a while, Ruki lost track of time and the turns had already taken. Before he realized it he was staring at a wall. He looked back to see Uruha carrying a sleeping Kai on his back.

“What…” Ruki gasped rubbing his head.

“We’re lost.” Uruha said.

“Yeah, I know. Come on.” Ruki said leading them down the hallway to the next intersection. He turned left, but was startled by Uruha.

“Hey!” The guitarist shouted. “Someone just walked passed down there.”

Ruki looked at where Uruha was pointing straight ahead, but didn’t see anything. Uruha started running down the hall and Ruki groaned before taking off behind the teen. Uruha looked around the intersection then took off to the left, then another left before a right. They stopped suddenly seeing someone with a cane walking away from them.

“Hey!” Uruha shouted as they started running towards him.

            As they got closer they noticed the person was still walking away from them, ignoring them. Ruki ran ahead of him and stopped startling the old man. The singer gasped as Uruha ran up to him. They looked at the old man with long raven hair, a diamond covered cane in his right hand, and his back hunched over.

“Aoi?” they gasped. 

The old man glared at them. “I don’t know no Aoi.”

They stared at him in shock as he started waddling away, but then he stopped and turned to study them. He pointed his cane at Ruki. “You…have we met?”

“Aoi, it’s me, Ruki.” The singer said. “This house distorted our ages. Uruha and Kai are here too.”

Aoi grunted as he turned back around. “Meh, I’m hungry.”

They watched as the old man started walking away again so they started walking up with him. “Listen, we have to get out of here. Do you know where anything is in here?”

“If I knew where to find something to eat I would be there not talking to you.”

“This is ridiculous.” Ruki gasped.

“Tell me about it.” Uruha huffed. “I mean I could imaging you with a blinged out cane, but not Aoi. Damn thing must have cost a fortune.”

Ruki gave him a dirty look before shaking his head

            They walked around following old Aoi trying to convince him about what is going on, but he kept waving them off talking about food, then coffee, then cigarettes. Ruki was far beyond frustrated. Aoi stopped for a moment at another intersection. He looked around before walking to the right and Ruki groaned following him. As they walked down this pathway though Ruki noticed something odd about the walls. There were weird creases and lines in a checkered out pattern. He kept his eye on them when suddenly holes opened up and arrows poked out.

“Get down!” Ruki shouted tackling Aoi to the ground as the arrows shot out. Uruha pulled Kai down and covered him as they laid flat on the floor.

            When the arrows stopped shooting they slowly raised up making sure no more would shoot out when Aoi started yelling at them for knocking him over. Kai was crying, but Uruha hugged him and rubbed his back. Ruki helped Aoi back up but got a whack on the head by the cane for it.

“Just want some food. Getting tackled and shit thrown at me.” Aoi grumbled.

“I hate this house so fucking much.” Ruki groaned. “Wait Aoi.”

            As they started walking again Kai ran up to the old Aoi and tugged at his pant leg. “What happened to your leg?”

“Don’t know brat. Woke up this morning with it.” Aoi grumbled. “Don’t know where I am either. All I know is that I’m hungry.”

Ruki’s eyes widen and he smiled. “Hey Aoi.” He said walking up to them. “Listen, if you follow me I can take you to get some food.”

Aoi stopped and glared at Ruki. “What do you mean?”

“If we find the end we’ll find you some food.”

“You’re lying.”

Ruki raised his hands up. “No, I swear. We have to find the exit to the maze first though.”

“Well let’s get moving then.” Aoi said and started limping ahead.

Ruki sighed. “Why don’t I help you out?”

            Next thing Ruki knew, he was carrying Aoi on his back while Kai held onto the raven’s cane. Aoi kept pointing in the opposite direction than where they were going which Ruki thought he was doing it on purpose. They turned down a hallway that had a dead end, but at the dead end was a table. On it was a heart shaped bottle with a red liquid inside, but it seemed impossible for the bottle to be able to physically stand up on its own.

“What’s that?” Kai asked.

“Well let’s find out.” Ruki whispered. They walked down the hallway cautiously, but they made it right up to the table without anything happening. Aoi got off Ruki’s back roughly and went up to the table to take the bottle. “Wait!”

Uruha snatched the bottle out of old Aoi’s hands and was hit on the head for it. Ruki took the small bottle and looked at the liquid inside it. There was nothing that said what it was. He looked around the bottle and found the letter ‘Q’ printed in black on the back.

“Don’t drink this yet.” Ruki said handing the bottle to Uruha. “We don’t know what it is or what it does. Just hang on to it for now.”

“Who put you in charge?” Aoi snapped.

“Aoi, come on please stop.” The singer begged.

Aoi grumbled something incoherent before taking the cane from Kai and started walking away. Ruki and Uruha both rolled their eyes as they followed the old man down the hall when they heard something behind them.

            Ruki groaned as he turned to see the floor tiles falling into a hole. Uruha grabbed Kai’s hand as Ruki grabbed Aoi’s waist pulling him down the hallway as they ran. Uruha turned to the left at the next crossing and Ruki followed him. They looked back as the floor stopped falling where the hallways met.

“What the hell?” Aoi shouted. “Damn near give me a heart attack why don’t you?”

“Let’s just keep moving.” Uruha gasped earning nods in agreement.

            The first floor falling was only the beginning. After each turn they made either the floor fell from the hallway they got out of or a wall appeared making it impossible to turn back. They moved more carefully from then on to make sure they wouldn’t get trapped, but as they kept going, they found another table with a diamond shaped bottle sitting on it with more red liquid inside and again the bottle shape seemed to be defying the laws of physics. This bottle had the letter ‘J’ written on the back of it as well of it. Ruki placed it in Uruha’s charge, but he gave it and the first bottle to Kai.

            Aoi climbed on Ruki’s back once more as Uruha picked Kai up and they got ready to run. They took off away from the table expecting the floor to fall again, but it didn’t. Instead a stone ball fell from the ceiling and started rolling towards them.

“This is some serious bullshit!” Uruha shouted as they ran. They turned hoping the ball would go past them, but it followed them around the corner. “The fuck?”

“Run faster.” Aoi ordered.

Ruki rolled his eyes hauling the old me. “Shut up. It’s not like you’re light as a feather.”

“You calling me fat?” Aoi snapped.

“Not calling you skinny anymore.” Ruki mumbled getting smacked on the head for it.

            They spotted a pathway missing the flooring and without saying anything to each other they ran faster. They shouted as the jumped over the opening and falling as they landed on the other side. They looked up at the ball rolling towards them, expecting to be crushed, but it slammed to a stop when it hit the missing flooring. They sat there staring at the stone ball for a moment before laying on their backs. Ruki let out a shaky breath before rubbing a hand down his face.

            _Ruki was relaxing in the studio writing on some lyrics when Aoi plopped in the seat beside him. Ruki tried ignoring him at first, but the guitarist’s bouncing leg was starting to get on his nerves. He looked over at his friend, putting his notebook down._

_“What?” Ruki asked._

_Aoi smiled. “Sorry to bother you Ru, but I need your help with something.”_

_“And that would be what?”_

_“Well, I want to take Reita out to eat tonight, but I don’t know where I should take him.”_

_Ruki looked at his friend with a raised brow. “Aoi, I thought you two decided not to date.”_

_“Well,” Aoi sighed. “I’m hoping to change his mind. I just want it to be perfect though.”_

_Ruki laughed a little, but patted his friend on the back. “He’s been wanting to try the new place down by the coffee shop. You know the new steak place.”_

_“Yeah. Yeah okay I’ll take him there. Thanks, Ru.”_

            “I wonder what the next trap is going to be.” Uruha said gasping for air.

“Shut up.” Ruki groaned rolling over to sit up. He helped old Aoi back up to his feet and handed the cane back over. That’s when he noticed Aoi’s left arm was limp. “Aoi did you hurt your arm?”

“I haven’t been able to move the damn thing since I woke up.” The guitarist snapped. “Now where’s my food?”

“We’ll get it old man, just hang on.” Uruha grumbled standing up. He picked Kai up in his arms, who still had a hold of the two bottles. As they started moving again the floor began to shake.

“I blame you for this, Uruha.” Ruki said.

“Me?”

“You jinxed us.” He said as they looked around ready to run from whatever was coming, but the walls started to move around them creating a single hallway.

            Once the walls finished moving, they began walking again however their pathway was already set for them. There were no more turns only a single path to walk through until they ended up in an opened area with a round table in the center. When they got to it, Ruki and Uruha put down their baggage. Sitting on top of the table was a spade shaped bottle with a black liquid inside of it. Ruki carefully lifted it up to look at the red letter ‘K’ on the back. Ruki placed the bottles together on the table and stared at them. Red heart, red diamond, black spade, Q, J, and K. Ruki looked around the table for any instructions, but couldn’t find anything. What were they supposed to do?

            “I’m thirsty.” Kai whined sitting down. “And I’m sleepy.”

“What now?” Uruha sighed. “There’s nothing here.”

Ruki rubbed his face staring at the bottles. It didn’t make sense. They usually had something to hint at what they were supposed to do, but there was nothing this time. Three colored bottles with numbers and four people. Uruha and Ruki started looking around the table to look for any clues. Kai looked up at the bottles and stood up to reach up on the table. Ruki pulled Kai back with a smile.

“Can’t drink them yet.”

Kai pouted before sitting by the raven. He looked at Aoi’s shiny cane and poked at the colors on it bottom part of it. He smiled before sticking his tongue out at the gems. He started laughing at his own reflection catching everyone’s attention. He was joined by Uruha and Ruki.

“What are you giggling about?” Ruki asked.

“Funny faces in the shiny gems.” Kai said pointing.

Ruki looked at the bottom Aoi’s cane to see three colored gems: a red heart, red diamond and a black spade. “Aoi I need to see your cane.”

The old man grunted before handing it over. Ruki looked over the diamond covered stick and at the gems. He picked at the black one and it came right off the cane. Inside the hole was a tiny piece of paper, so Ruki dumped it out into his hand to take a look. Written on it was Kai’s name. He did the same with the other two gems. The hole from heart gem had a paper with Uruha’s name, and the hole from the diamond gem had a paper with Aoi’s name.

“Maybe we’re supposed to drink them?” Uruha asked unsure.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t seem safe.” Ruki said. They turned to look back at the table and gasped. Kai had walked over to the table while they were distracted and managed to grab the black bottle off. He had already pulled the lid off and started drinking it by the time they had noticed. Ruki grabbed the bottle as Uruha grabbed Kai and they pulled the two apart. Ruki tipped the bottle over to let the last few drops come out.

“Kai!” they shouted at him, but he grabbed his stomach and hunched over.

            Worried they watched as their friend continue to groan in pain, but noticed he was slowly getting bigger. In seconds Kai’s body returned to its normal adult size before he looked up at them with a confused stare.

“Holy shit, what happened?” He asked.

“Good question.” Uruha and Ruki asked at the same time looking at the empty bottle.

Uruha picked the red heart bottle and stared at it. “I’ll try it out. I’m willing to risk it to go back to normal.”

“Uruha…” Ruki mumbled and Aoi walked up to them. He grabbed the last bottle and just swung it back. “Aoi wait!”

Uruha shrugged his shoulder before drinking down the liquid inside.

            They both dropped the bottles and hugged themselves in pain before dropping to their knees. Ruki watched as Uruha’s limbs slowly grew where Aoi’s body straightened up. In seconds they were both back to their normal adult sizes. Uruha stood up looking at his hands then stood next to Ruki and smiled.

“Wahoo! I’m taller than you again!”

“Good for you.” Ruki said unamused.

“What the fuck is happening?” Aoi grumbled rubbing his left arm. Ruki sighed.

            _“Hey, Ruki.” Aoi called walking up to the singer. “Are you sure about this? You guys have been going strong for a long time.”_

_Ruki kept his eyes down. “Kyo…needs someone better.”_

_“There’s no one better than you.” He said grabbing Ruki’s shoulder, but was shrugged away._

_“I know this is the right thing to do. It has to be. Kyo will understand why I’m doing this.”_

_“Or he’ll think you’re selfish.” Aoi said. “Please think about this. Breaking up with him is serious. You two have never had any major fights like Reita and me.”_

_“No, but something has to change.” Ruki said walking away._

_“Ru,” Aoi called him. “Don’t forget, we’re all here for you.”_

            Aoi stared at his three bandmates after hearing the quick versions of their stories. He looked between them before pinching his leg to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He couldn’t argue with what they were saying since he was an old man from the moment he woke up.

“Okay, so … what do we do now?” He asked calmly trying not to freak out.

“Next we find the exit to this place.” Ruki said. “Let me see that cane.”

Aoi handed it over and Ruki inspected looking to see if anything else was on it that could help them. Aoi rubbed his arm as they all looked over the cane together. Kai noticed his friend’s pain and poked Aoi on the side.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but my shoulder is stiff and it’s making it hard more my arm to move.”

They nodded figuring it was an injury from the wreck.

            As they sat there, the room started shaking again and walls started rising up around them. Ruki had them collect the glass bottles to hang on to knowing they would need them again and they each slipped the bottles into their pants pockets. They stood up together as the walls shaped around them then something smashed into the floor causing it to shake. The turned to see another stone ball rolling towards them. Someone shouted to run and they all took off down the maze of halls. As they tried to make a turn, a wall would close up forcing them to go wherever this house wanted them to go.

            Aoi kept going, hissing as pain shot up his leg with every step. They were going down the current hallway when a section of flooring fell. Ruki shouted something about jumping and they picked up speed. Aoi gasped as he looked behind to see the ball rolling even closer to him. He was falling behind the group with his leg hurting more suddenly. He stared at the hole coming up. Uruha jumped and cleared it first, next was Kai, then Ruki who fell hard on the ground as he landed. Aoi pushed as hard as he could on his feet as he jumped.

            It wasn’t enough though. His body slammed into the side of the hole and he started falling but was caught by Uruha and Ruki. Kai reached over to help pull him up as the stone rolled over the hole and fell into the deep pit. They sat there catching their breath and Kai looked down at the black pit. They finally got back up, but Aoi hissed and fell into the drummer.

“What’s wrong?” Ruki asked.

“My leg.” Aoi grunted.

“I’ll help you walk.” Kai said putting the guitarist’s arm around his neck before they began walking again.

            Aoi was struggling to keep up as they continued through the maze, but they couldn’t stop now. Ruki had taken the lead with Uruha close behind him, but they were making sure to go a little slow for Aoi. As they took a turn into another hallway, they noticed it was a dead end ahead, so they turned to go back, but found a solid wall in their way.

“You have _got to be fucking kidding me!_ ” Uruha yelled punching the solid wall. Ruki noticed something on the other wall and walked to it to investigate. He had spotted three holes in the wall shaped like a heart, diamond and spade with the letters ‘Q, J, and K’ below them.

“The bottles.” Ruki ordered and they quickly pulled them out. Uruha carefully placed the heart bottle into the hole, and the others went to place their bottles in aswell, but the two openings shut closed before they could. A loud grinding sound filled their ears and the hallway began to shake until the wall split open in the middle. They watched as it slowly open up to a pitch black room.

            They jumped when they heard clacking noises coming from inside and it seemed to be getting louder. They held their breaths as they watched a tall figure walk out from the darkness. They gasped seeing a second Uruha standing there in all black with a giant centipede wrapped around his body, his eyes were solid black, and he was petting the insect’s head. He looked around at the group until his eyes landed on the original Uruha.

“What the fuck?” Uruha asked shakenly. The dark eyed Uruha took a step forward and they all stepped back, but then he reached out his arm. The centipede that was around his body ran off and went straight to the original Uruha. He was too scared to move making it easy for the centipede to wrap around his body. He screamed out and the others moved to help him, but were thrown into the opposite wall by an invisible force.

Ruki tried to move, but something wouldn’t let him and he noticed it was the same for Kai and Aoi as well. They could only watch as the dark eyed Uruha walked to his struggling doppelganger and slam him into the wall before grabbing his chin with one hand. Uruha shook as he stared into the pitch black eyes as this creature moved. The dark eyed Uruha slipped his knees in between Uruha’s own and moved closer. Before Uruha could comprehend what was going on, his doppelganger pulled him into a kiss.

            Uruha groaned trying to pull away, but his darker version seemed so much stronger and as they kissed the centipede began moving around his body. He whimpered as the insect crawled around until it slipped under his shirt. Feeling the multiple hairy legs crawling down his stomach made him want to vomit, but then he felt it going into his pants. Tears threatened to spill over his eyes feeling the creepy crawly moving back and forth in his pants. As the dark eyed Uruha continue to kiss him, another large centipede began crawling out from the back of his shirt and down the floor. It moved straight toward the three members held against the wall. Its antennas twitched before it crawled up Ruki’s pants leg make him cry out.

            Ruki tried kicking the centipede off, but he couldn’t move his leg an inch. He could only feel the insect crawl up his body. Uruha cried out when his doppelganger threw him head first to the ground.

“Ruki…help me please.” Uruha whimpered.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Damn it” Kai gasped trying to move.

Aoi yelled. “Stop touching them you weird ass freak thing!”

The dark eyed Uruha glared at him and waved his hand which caused Aoi to fall to the ground. He waved his hand again and the centipedes left Uruha and Ruki’s bodies. They scurried up to Aoi, quickly wrapping around him and he screamed out as they started biting into his skin.

“Stop it!” Ruki screamed, feeling completely helpless. Uruha shook as he stood up and punched his dark eyed copy in the back of the head. It turned to face Uruha before throwing his body into the wall face first. It walked to him and ripped the back of his shirt open. It licked up Uruha’s spine making him whimper. Ruki tried moving his arms again as he glared at the doppelganger, then at Aoi struggling to get away from the centipedes.

“I don’t know what to do.” He whimpered squeezing his eyes shut.

            _“Read em and weep.” Aoi said dropping his straight flush onto the table making his bandmates groan. They were playing poker at the guitarist’s place that night to destress a little bit. “Come on, lose them!”_

_They groaned as they stood up to take an article of clothing off. Since they didn’t want to use money to bet, they decided to play strip poker instead. Ruki had already lost his jacket, now he had to remove his shirt. Kai had folded so he didn’t have to strip. Uruha threw his pants to the side wearing only a tank top, his boxers and socks. Reita blushed dropping his pants and tossing them, leaving him wearing only his boxers. He wasn’t that good. Since Reita was already up, he decided to go to the fridge to get them more drinks, but they had drunk more than they thought._

_“We’re out of beer.”_

_“Let’s all pick a card and lowest has to go on a beer run.” Ruki said. They each took a card from the shuffled pile and showed them off. Reita and Ruki smiled with their Aces, while Kai had the King of Spades, Uruha had the Queen of Hearts, and Aoi had the Jack of Diamonds._

_“Aoi lost.” Reita laughed, but the raven slapped his ass._

_“Put on some clothes, you’re coming with me.”_

_Ruki’s phone rung as the two began to bicker and he saw Kyo’s name come up. He bit his lip and brought it up to his ear as he stepped out of the room. “Hello?”_

_“Ruki, I miss you.”_

_“Kyo…”_

            Ruki opened his eyes when he heard Aoi scream again and found the dark eyed Uruha biting into Uruha’s shoulder, making his scream as well.

“Ruki, snap out of it!” Kai gasped. “We’re running out of time!”

“Time…” Ruki muttered. “Uruha, you have to concentrate! This thing, it’s you. It’s your past!”

“What?” Uruha gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s the darkness of your past! You have to confront whatever it is.”

Uruha sniffled, “But I don’t know…what it is.”

“It has to be something that’s happened to you before, maybe when you were a teenager. Just think!”

The dark eyed Uruha flicked his hand and the centipedes scurried off Aoi only to climb over Ruki where they started biting him. He screamed out from the pain as they also wrapped around him to start squeezing his body. Uruha shivered as he felt a hand squeezing his ass and then he gasped with wide teary eyes

“No, not again.” He started crying. “Please…uncle stop.”

He was forced to turn around and face the middle aged man now standing before him. His uncle cocked his head to the side before his body slowly flaked and turned grey. Uruha watched as the body crumbled into ash along with the centipedes. Kai and Ruki’s bodies were released and they slide to the floor with wide eyes.

            They sat in silence for a few minutes until Ruki finally walked over to Uruha and sat next to him. The brunette sniffled before he started crying out. Aoi and Kai looked into the darkness, terrified of what was to come next, but they didn’t have to wait before they heard something moving inside. Ruki was quick to pull Uruha up to his feet to get ready for the next attack as Kai helped Aoi to his feet. They moved closer together not knowing what to expect when the doors suddenly shut. They stared at for a good while before any of them moved to look at the two holes left in the door. The heart opening was gone as well as the ‘Q’.

“Are we seriously going to have to deal with something from each of our pasts?” Kai asked.

Ruki shrugged. “Put in the next one.”

“What you can’t be serious?” Aoi gasped.

“Aoi,” Ruki snapped. “Were running out of time. We have to get out of the house and get to Reita before it’s too late. Who knows how long we’ve already been in here for.”

That seemed to shut the raven up and not only that, but he limped over to the door to put in his bottle into the diamond shaped hole.

            They waited as the room shook until the doors split open again showing them a room full of darkness. They were a little more prepared this time as to what to sort of expect. They waited listening to the sounds of someone walking closer until they were out of the darkness. The four of them stared wide eyed at a familiar blonde head. Reita was standing there, but his eyes were completely black.

“Reita?” They all gasped. The blonde waved his hand flinging Ruki, Uruha and Kai in the walls. Aoi jumped from the surprise then glared at Reita.

“Rei, what are you doing?”

Reita cocked his head to the side before throwing Aoi into the wall opposite of his friends. He took steady breaths as Reita walked over to him and rubbed his chest before leaning in to kiss him. Aoi closed his eyes kissing back

“Aoi that’s not Reita!” Ruki yelled.

Aoi opened his eyes to look into Reita’s black ones and the blonde pulled away only to lick Aoi’s neck. Reita grabbed Aoi’s hand to bring it between his legs and the raven couldn’t help but squeeze making the blonde smile.

“Aoi!” Kai yelled. “For fuck’s sake it’s not him.”

Ruki rolled his eyes as Aoi continued to be fascinated with the blonde. Uruha gasped before whimpering out. “Aoi, what happened…what happened with Reita?”

Aoi froze as his eyes dropped to look at the bassist’s arms. Reita seemed to let out a growl as he glared over his shoulder at Uruha. He reached his arm out and a black cloth came out of his hand to wrap around the guitarist’s mouth and nose

“Uruha!” Kai gasped. “God damn, Aoi snap out of it!”

Reita flicked his hand and another cloth shot out to wrap around Kai’s head as well. Reita glared at Ruki and the singer glared back waiting for the blonde to do something.

“I’m sorry.” Aoi whispered. They both looked at him to find that he was crying. “I’m so sorry Reita. I didn’t mean to hurt you. So please…please stop hurting yourself.”

Reita stepped back as raised his arms in the air. Blood dripped from his wrists as more blood soaked through the thighs of his pants. Blood dripped from Reita’s eyes before cuts all over his body formed causing his whole body to be covered in blood, until his body turned into the red liquid itself.

            They were all released from their bonds as soon as Reita’s body had become a puddle of liquid. Uruha and Kai clawed at the cloths around their faces, but the pieces of clothe quickly fell away. They all stared at each other for a moment as the doors shut again. Uruha glared as he stormed up to Aoi.

“What happened? What did you do to Reita?” Uruha snapped grabbing Aoi’s shirt and pushing him into the wall.

“Uruha, it wasn’t really him.” Ruki said.

“No, I’m talking our Reita, the real one.” Uruha said. “My uncle raped me when I was in middle school. When I was at his apartment one day and the complex caught on fire. My uncle was trapped inside and by the time the fire was out the complex was burned to the ground. My uncle, was literally turned to ash just like how he disappeared in front of me a few minutes ago. Why was Reita covered in blood?”

Aoi dropped his head. “He didn’t want you guys to know. The last time we got back together…I found out that he had started cutting himself. He made me promise not to tell you guys, but I felt like it was my fault because of all the fights we had. Because I kept breaking up and getting back together with him.”

Ruki thought for a moment before speaking up. “Wait, Uruha, you said it happened in middle school?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Pain.” Ruki began whispering. “You were in pain by what happened you, by what your uncle did to you. You were changed into a middle schooler because that’s when it happened. Aoi’s past has to do with recent guilt.”

“But why was I an old man?” Aoi asked. “That’s the future.”

“Guilt can last a life time.” Kai said. And they all looked at him with wide eyes, then Ruki smirked at him.

“I’m actually kind of curious about kid Kai.”

“Shup up.” The drummer groaned. “Let’s get this over with. I already have an idea of what’s going to come out.”

            They watched as he placed his spade bottle in the last remaining hole with the K underneath it. They stepped back as the room shook and the doors started to open. They waited, holding their breaths trying expect anything, but they were honestly surprised again. A small child walked out dragging a teddy bear along with him. They all looked at each other except for Kai. The drummer stared wide eyed at the little boy as he walked right up to him.

“Kai, that’s not you. Who is he?” Ruki asked.

“I…” Kai whispered. The young boy glared up at Kai with his black eyes and raised his hand in the air. Kai gasped as his hands wrapped around his own neck and started chocking him.

“Kai!” His friends shouted, but the young boy glared at them and suddenly their hands wrapped around their own necks as well. They dropped to their knees unable to breath. Kai let his tears fall freely as the young boy rubbed his face. Kai opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get any words out.

            Uruha was first to fall over, his face blood red from the lack of oxygen and Aoi was soon following him. Ruki dropped to the side still staring at the young boy who was rubbing Kai’s face over and over again. Kai shook as he fought to pull his hands away or at least loosen them. He felt his head getting light and his vision was becoming blurry, but he was able to pry his fingers open. He managed to gasp in some air at least enough to speak.

“Please…brother…”He gasped out before his hands tightened up again. He fell to the side staring up into the boy’s black eyes. Kai felt tears running down his cheeks. He strained to open up his hands again before he lost consciousness and took in some air to breath. “I…miss you.”

The young boy’s eyes widen and he stepped back before tears rolled down his cheeks. Then water started coming out of his mouth and soon enough, his body turned into liquid. They seemed to regain control of their bodies and were able to let go coughing as they gasped for air.

            It took them a few minutes to get a hold of themselves and sit up. They were a little curious, but none of them wanted to ask what all of that was about. Kai sighed as he rubbed his neck and decided he might as well let them know.

“My younger brother. He died when I was in primary school. My mother took him for swimming lessons, but he didn’t come home one day and I was told he would never come home. Apparently the instructors weren’t paying attention and my brother went into the deep end. He drowned. I was so sad and lonely that I would play with his teddy bear to make myself feel better. Took me forever to get over it.”

“Sadness.” Ruki said. “Your past dealt with sadness.”

“Pain, guilt, sadness…” Aoi sighed. “How depressing.”

“Can we please get out of here now?” Uruha asked and they shook their heads. They stood up only to realize the door never shut like it did before. They looked between each other before Ruki took the first step towards it and his friends began to follow, but they stopped hearing footsteps coming.

            They were confused, not sure what else could be coming. Kai already overcame his past so what was coming through now? They swallowed hard and watched as the short man appear. Ruki’s eyes grew wide and he stepped forward.

“K-Kyo?” He gasped looking at his ex-boyfriend. The short vocalist had his typical glare as he stared at them with his black eyes. He stepped forward and Ruki moved towards him, but Kai pulled him back.

“It’s not him, remember?” He whispered.

Kyo cocked his head staring at Ruki until he suddenly stepped back and kept going into the darkness.

“No,” Ruki whimpered, “don’t leave.” They watched as the vocalist disappeared into the darkness as the doors slowly shut.

“Ruki?” Aoi asked.

“Regret.” He whimpered.

            They felt the room shaking, but this time it wasn’t stopping and floor started to give way. They all grouped closely together as the floor crumbled all around them. Ruki grabbed onto Aoi’s and Uruha’s hands as Kai grabbed the guitarists’ arms. They floor finally gave in under them and they fell into the dark pit below. They all managed to hang on to each other as they fell down towards a faint light. It came closer with each second until they were going through it, but instead of falling down into something, they shot out a doorway of the house. They all landed hard into the grass as the door slammed shut behind them.

            They groaned and huffed as they got the bearings enough to stand up. Aoi looked around amazed at the small house they had just flew out of. Ruki tapped his arm as he started walking to another house with others following.

“Wait aren’t we going to talk about what happened in there?” Aoi asked quickly jogging to catch up.

“No time, the sun can start coming up at any moment. We have to get Reita out before it does.” Ruki said as he kept walking.

Aoi looked down at his leg and then moved his arm. “Hey, my arm and my leg is all better.”

“Yeah, we think when we get hurt here it’s actually how our real injures are in the real world.” Uruha said and Aoi noticed the guitarist’s shirt was intact again. “But after we get out of our houses we can’t feel the injuries anymore.”

Aoi nodded as they made it to the final house, the one that held Reita. Ruki grabbed the door knob as they looked up at the writing above the door. ‘Nightmare House’. They all had a chill go up their spines as Ruki opened the door.


	5. Nightmare House

            Ruki opened his eyes to find the room a big blur, but then white ceiling came into focus. He was slow to sit up, but then a hand was placed on his chest and he was gently pushed back down. He was confused and looked at the person next only to get a surprise. Kyo was looking over him, gently smiling.

“What…” Ruki gasped. “Kyo, what’s going on?”

“Hey, relax okay.” The vocalist said rubbing Ruki’s cheek. He moved in placing a soft kiss on Ruki’s lips and the younger vocalist happily kissed back. They slowly pulled apart and Ruki looked around the room. It wasn’t like any hospital room he’s ever been in. The walls were a light blue, there was a comfortable looking recliner next to his bed which had a purple comforter on it, and most importantly there weren’t any machines in the room. Not even a tv. Ruki looked down at his hands and arms. They weren’t bandaged up, hell there wasn’t a mark on them, but Ruki remembers being covered in bloody bites.

            Ruki glared up at Kyo who had a small smile and was rubbing his hand. Ruki shook his head. Something wasn’t right here.

“Kyo, where are we?”

“Um, a hospital. You’re going to be okay though.” He said softly.

“Where are my bandmates? Where are my friends?”

Kyo sighed and dropped his head. “Listen, Ruki you have to stop this. You have to stop asking this, okay. It’s getting too much for me to handle.”

“Wh-what are you talk about? Where are my friends? What happened to Aoi, to Uruha, Kai, Reita? Are they okay? Please Kyo.”

“Ruki, they’re dead.”

“What?” Ruki gasped.

Kyo finally looked up at him. “They’re dead. They died in that car accident over a year ago. Ruki, you were the only one who lived.”

“No.” Ruki shook his head as he felt his eyes burning. “No you’re lying! They’re not dead I saved them! The snake said—”

“Enough with the damn snake!” Kyo yelled. “It wasn’t real. None of those places were real. You didn’t save anybody okay. Reita’s head and neck injury killed him before the car even flipped over. Uruha was thrown from the car and decapitated. Aoi died from a punctured lung, they couldn’t get to him in time. A branch broke through the windshield and stabbed Kai in the heart. They’re all dead! Every day I sit by you hoping you’ll wake up and realize the truth. No I’m forced to go through this… to make you go through this memory every god damn day.”

Ruki’s cheeks were burning as tears rolled down them. He shook his head. “No, no it’s not true. They’re not—”

“They are dead and you’re alive. You are stuck in this crazy place because you can’t accept the fact that you lived and they didn’t.” Kyo stood up shaking his head. “I told you yesterday that I couldn’t do this anymore. I guess you just couldn’t understand me. I’m sorry Ruki, but I won’t be coming back again. I just can’t stand to see you like this.”

“Kyo?” Ruki whimpered watching the vocalist leave the room. “Kyo! Kyo come back!”

Ruki moved to go after him, but then three large men came running in and held him down onto the bed. A female nurse in all white was soon at his side holding a syringe. She stabbed his neck and his mind became a blur before it all went black.

            When Ruki opened his eyes again, he found himself in the same room, but it was dark and he was alone. He tried to sit up, but restraints held him down on the bed. He struggled to get loose, but it seemed useless. He sniffled before he began crying at the realization that he was all alone. His friends were gone and the last thing he did was argue with them. That’s not how he wanted them to see him. He wanted them to know that he cared for them like they were his brothers. They were his second family. He sniffled as he pulled at the restraints again when he heard someone walking in.

            The person was shadowed by the dark as they moved closer, but Ruki couldn’t see who the person was. It couldn’t have been Kyo, the vocalist was shorter than this person.

“Who are you?” Ruki asked.

“Ruki, you hurt my feelings, forgetting me.”

“Reita?” He asked and suddenly a light was turned on, blinding him. He groaned he blinked from the sudden brightness until he could see, but he wish he couldn’t. Reita was standing in front of him, covered in dirt with blood dripping down his face. “Reita…what?”

“You did this to me Ruki.” He said pointing at his head. “It’s your fault we got into an accident. It’s your fault my neck snapped in half and my head crushed into the window. It’s your fault that I died.”

“No, no, no!” Ruki screamed out.

“It’s your fault that we all died.” Aoi said. Ruki gasped looking around as his bandmates managed to appear around his bed. All of them were dirty and bloody. Aoi had blood dripping out of his mouth and eyes. Kai had a hole in his chest that Ruki could see straight through. Uruha was standing there with his head in his hand looking at him. Ruki screamed unable to move as they each grabbed onto him, clawing into his skin.

“No! You’re not dead!” He cried out. “I saved you! The damn snake said I could save you!”

“We are dead.” Uruha gasped. “You killed us.”

“No.” Ruki whimpered their nails digging into his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The clawing stopped and Ruki opened his eyes to see his bandmates staring at him. He whimpered out. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend. I’m sorry I didn’t treat you all right. I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me. I didn’t mean for…I didn’t want you guys to die. I’m so sorry.”

His bandmates started walking backwards slowly disappearing into thin air. He gasped as more tears fell from his eyes and suddenly he felt the restraint on his wrist loosen. He moved his hand up and quickly removed the other restraints. Ruki jumped off the bed and ran out of the door. He looked around the dark corridors then back into his room, but found a solid wall. He placed his hand on it and saw his skin covered in bloody bites again. He rubbed a hand through his hair as he stepped back for a moment to breathe. What the hell was going on?

Before he could think any more about it, he heard a deep scream come from down the hall. Ruki took off running towards the scream until he came across another door. He jiggled the doorknob but it wouldn’t budge so he started ramming his body into it. The wood on the door made a cracking noise, but it wouldn’t open. He walked back to ram it again, when he spotted a young boy standing near him. He looked around three years and was wearing green pajamas covered in dinosaurs. He was holding a white bunny rabbit wearing a pair of overalls. Ruki looked at the door again when he heard another scream.

Ruki didn’t have time for this, but then the young boy started tugging on his pants. Ruki looked down at him again and the young boy raised his hand up. The singer didn’t understand, but the boy grabbed his hand and started pulling him away from the door.

“Stop it, I have to help my friend.”

“You need the key.” The boy whispered. “I can show you where it is.”

Ruki was hesitant, it didn’t seem right, but what other choice did he have at the moment. He took the young boy’s hand and allowed him to lead the way. “I’m Ruki, what’s your name?”

“Suzuki Akira.”

Ruki gasped as he stopped walking and the boy turned to look up at him. “Reita?”

“What’s a Reita?” He asked, but then pointed down the hallway. “The key is this way, come.”

Ruki let the boy take his hand again and lead the way down the hallway. They walked pass several closed doors and turned right at a corner. Ruki noticed he couldn’t hear the screaming anymore and was starting shake. Akira looked back at him.

“We’re almost there.” He said as he walked as fast as his little legs could manage.

            They made one more turn to a long hallway with a single door at the end. Akira pulled for Ruki to follow him down the hallway all the way to the door. Ruki was nervous as he grabbed the door knob.

“What’s in here?” Ruki asked.

“A key.”

“Can’t be any more helpful can you?”

“I’m not allowed in there.” Akira said. Ruki sighed before opening the door. He walked into the dark room and felt a shiver go through his spine. He tried to look around as he moved one foot in front of the other until a flame lit up a few feet away. Soon more lit up down a pathway leading to an area with a table. He rolled his eyes. These tables were getting old, but he walked down it to see what laid on it.

            When he got to the table he found a black necklace with a strange silver cross on it. The cross itself was jagged and crooked at the bottom. Ruki picked it up and examined it before the flames started to grow and spin around him.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” He screamed running from the flames as they combined and started whipping around in the air. Ruki gasped heading towards the entrance with the flames singeing his hairs as it flew pass him. He screamed out running through the door and he turned to see a wall of fire coming forwards, but then the door slammed shut sealing the flames inside. Ruki took a moment to catch his breath before putting the necklace on himself. Akira reached his hand out and Ruki took it.

            They made their way back to the previous room where it was silent which worried Ruki even more now. He pulled the necklace off and looked at the door knob where he saw the small hole. He inserted the cross and turned it, unlocking it. Ruki opened the door, but looked down at Akira.

“Stay out here okay.” Ruki said and walked inside. He found himself in a solid white room with someone hunched over in a corner. Ruki was cautious as he walked towards the figure and knelt next to him. Ruki grabbed his shoulder making him flinch and look up. It was Uruha and he was sitting there crying.

“Ru-Ruki?” He whimpered.

“Uruha, what happened?” Ruki asked.

The guitarist sniffled. “They’re gone.” He lifted his arms to show his sliced up wrists and missing hands. “He took them from me.”

“Uruha…”

“Uncle was in here and he cut my hands. He said he’ll be back to…to take me again.”

Ruki shook his head. “No, Uruha he won’t hurt again, I won’t let him.”

“ _He took my hands!”_ Uruha screamed. “He took them…he took them…”

Uruha fell to his side crying. Ruki didn’t know what to do.

“He should face his fears.” Akira said from the doorway. Ruki glared at the small boy as he walked closer, but then a tall man walked up behind him. Akira turned and looked up at the man only to be kicked across the room.

“Akira!” Ruki shouted, but then the man kept walking towards them.

“No,” Uruha whimpered curling up into a ball. “Please uncle.”

Ruki stood between them glaring at the middle aged man. Uruha’s uncle smirked as he lifted up two detached hands tied to a string into the air and Uruha screamed out.

“How will he play a guitar now?” His uncle laughed as Uruha cried and then it dawned on Ruki. He dropped down next to Uruha and grabbed his shoulders to lift him up. He shook the guitarist.

“Uruha, listen to me.” Ruki snapped. “This isn’t real. It’s a nightmare. It’s your biggest nightmare. You have to face it, you have overcome it.”

Uruha cried, “I can’t play anymore…”

“Uruha, my biggest nightmare is losing you guys. I went through that nightmare already and I can’t go through it again. Please Uruha, I can’t so please, please try.”

Uruha sniffled as he looked towards his uncle and slowly stood up with Ruki close to his side. Uruha shook staring at his smiling uncle. “G-give them back.”

“Poor little Kouyou, can’t do anything without these.” His uncle said waving the guitarist’s hands in the air.

Uruha whimpered bringing his arms to his chest. “Give me back my hands!”

“They’re mine now.”

“No! You’re dead. You don’t exist anymore. You can’t do this, you can’t take my hands because _you don’t exist_!” Uruha screamed squeezing his eyes shut.

            “Uruha.” Ruki said and the brunette slowly opened his eyes to find his uncle was gone. He raised his arms up and looked at his hands, wiggling his fingers. He gasped rubbing his hands and wrists.

“My hands…” He sniffled.

Ruki patted his shoulder catching his attention, but then they heard a soft whimper. They looked over at the small boy sitting up and crying. Ruki ran to him and knelt by him.

“Hey are you okay?” He asked and the young boy quickly hugged him. Ruki sighed as he picked the young boy up in his arms as Uruha walked up to him.

“Who’s this little guy?”

“Akira.” Ruki said rubbing the young boy’s head.

“Wait you don’t mean our Akira?” Uruha asked.

“I don’t know.” Ruki said as the boy rubbed his head into the singer’s chest.

“I want my bunny.” He whimpered. Uruha looked around and spotted the bear sitting on the floor nearby. He quickly picked it up and handed it over the boy. Akira took it and hugged it tightly with one arm as his other arm hung onto Ruki’s neck.

“Hey, so do you know where our other friends are too?” Ruki asked.

“No,” He whimpered.

“You knew where the key was.” Ruki said.

“Because the snake showed me. I got lost, but I found the door again so I stayed near it. Then I heard you. You can help me get out too right?” He sniffled.

            The two walked out of the room with Ruki still carrying Akira in his arms. He grabbed the necklace key after the door shut behind them. Uruha kept staring at the young boy and could see the resemblance that he held with Reita. Except this child was scared and helpless, not anything like his friend would be. They continued down the hallway listening out for screams and looking out for random doors. The hallway seemed to have gone on forever when they finally did see another door. They made their way to it and stared at it before jiggling the door knob to find it locked. Ruki took the necklace off again and used it to unlock the door. They hesitated before Ruki sat Akira down on the ground.

“Stay out here this time.” Ruki said. “We’ll be in and out before you know it, so don’t go anywhere.”

“Please don’t leave me alone.” The young boy whimpered.

“We need to go in, but it’s too dangerous for you.” Ruki said. “I promise we’ll be out in no time, okay.”

Akira nodded holding his bear. Uruha patted his head then walked into the dark room with Ruki, leaving the boy behind.

            Once they were through, they realized that they had stepped outside. Uruha and Ruki were confused, there was no way they were out of the house yet. They hadn’t completed the task unless they failed. Ruki felt his body shake as he noticed the silence around him. He couldn’t have failed to save his friends, he couldn’t have. Ruki looked around and realized there weren’t any houses around them. He turned around to find an opening that led back into the house, but it was just there in the air. It was strange in fact it was unbelievable. Before they could investigate it, they hear a loud scream coming from the forest surrounding them.

“Who was that?” Uruha asked.

“I’m not sure, but we need to find them and soon.”  Ruki said.

            They started running into the forest listening to the screams. The trees and bushes became denser the deeper they went in. It also seemed like it was getting darker and Uruha’s neck hairs were raised when he heard something moving in the bushes around them.

“Ruki.”

“I know, I hear it too.” He whispered. They walked through another bush finding Kai standing around panicked.

“Kai.” Ruki gasped making the drummer jump. Kai was covered in sweat and gasping for air as he looked around. “Kai.”

The drummer finally looked at them before stepping back shaking his head. “No, no, please stop it!”

“Kai, calm down it’s us.” Uruha said.

“No, you’re tricking me again!” He cried out. “You want take me.”

“Nobody is tricking you Kai. It’s us” Ruki said calmly. “We’re your friends.”

“You’re lying.” Kai whimpered. “Just like last time.”

“How can we prove it to you?” Uruha asked, but Kai shook his head backing away. He took off running in the opposite direction with Ruki and Uruha chasing after him, calling his name. Kai ignored them as he continued running through the trees into the darker areas until something flew in front of him. He froze seeing the large shadow grow in front of him. He let out a blood curdling scream as the shadow grew a large blade and lifted it into the air. It swung the blade down and Kai was too scared to move, but he was tackled to the ground dodging the blade completely.

            Kai whimpered looking up at the shadow as his body was being shaken.

“Kai!” His mind snapped and he looked up at Ruki who was over him. “We need to move, now.”

Kai was shaking, but Uruha and Ruki grabbed his arms and started dragging his body away from the shadow. As they ran away the shadow disappeared, but they kept moving to into a thinner areas of forest. Once they had made to a more opened area, they let Kai go, but the drummer quickly pulled Ruki into a hug.

“Kai, calm down.” Ruki said rubbing his back. “Just breathe for a minute.”

“He’s trying to kill me.” Kai gasped.

“Okay, listen to me Kai, this is a nightmare. You just have to face this shadow.”

“Fuck that!” Kai shouted, “It almost took my head last time.”

“You have to Kai or you won’t be able to get out of here. We’ve already gone through our nightmares, you can, too.”

“I’ve already tried!” Kai snapped. “I tried using a big fucking stick to stab it, but the damn thing just reappeared. It keeps reappearing.”

“How do we face it then?” Uruha groaned.

Ruki shook his head, but then looked at his friend. “Kai, what are you most scared of? Obviously it’s not a murdering shadow or else you would have gotten out already.”

The drummer rubbed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”

The bushes around them started shaking and they watched as the large dark creature stepped out holding the large silver scythe.

“Think, Kai!” Uruha snapped as the creature moved closer.

“I don’t know, damnit!” Kai yelled, making his voice break and then he sniffled. Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, I can’t ever seem to figure shit out no matter how hard I try. No matter what I do, things just hit us over and over and I just can’t seem to stop it. I can’t fix all of the mistakes, I can’t fix our band, and I can’t fix us. I’m a failure. I never wanted you guys to notice my mistakes so I hid it.”

“You’re not a failure.” Ruki said kneeling beside his friend. “You can’t control everything and shit happens. That’s life. Just because you don’t succeed at something doesn’t make you a failure and trust me, only we as a band can fix us. No one member is able to handle that task alone. Admit when you need help to any of us and you’ll get it without question.”

“Ruki…help me…please I don’t know what to do.” Kai whimpered. “It’s going to kill me.”

“No, it’s not. Look.” Uruha said.

Kai lifted his head and found the shadow completely gone. “I don’t understand.”

“Your nightmare was the fear of failure and the fear of everyone knowing. It’s why you failed to kill the shadow and why you couldn’t get away from it. It was your own fear in solid form, so finally speaking up about it to us broke the secret and forced the shadow to break apart.”

“You really think so?” Kai mumbled.

Ruki hummed and shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what I’m guessing.”

“Okay, Kai’s safe now so can we get back?” Uruha said interrupting the moment.

            It didn’t take too long before the three were walking through the doorway back into the house. The shut behind them making them jump and turn to look at it just as it locked. They looked between each other with confused expressions before sighing with relief. Uruha looked around the room with a scowl.

“Ruki.”

“Yeah?”

“Akira’s gone.”

“Akira?” Kai asked. “Reita?”

“Maybe.” Ruki spoke. “We found this little boy calling himself Akira. I told him to wait here for us.”

“Well he’s not here anymore.” Uruha mumbled. “We don’t have time to hunt him down. We have to find Aoi and Reita.”

Ruki nodded with a frown and they started walking away from the room, but the singer had a bad feeling.

            What started with the three of them walking turned into them jogging down the hallways listening for anything that might signal one of their friends being nearby. They slowed down when they spotted a young girl dressed in a white dress holding a red ball. She was bouncing the ball and laughing until she realized she wasn’t alone anymore. She smiled at the group and waved before picking up her ball again.

“Ok, which one of you is scared of a little girl?” Uruha snickered.

“Maybe it’s you.” Ruki retorted and Kai laughed as they walked up to her. Ruki smiled at her as he waved. “Hey, what’s your name?”

The little girl laughed as her eyes turned pitch black, startling them. “You’re all going to die.” She sung.

Ruki stumbled back grabbing onto his friends and they quickly took off in the opposite direction only to see another younger girl in a white dress bouncing a yellow ball. She looked up with solid black eyes and a smile that looked like a black hole. The three stopped in their tracks and started backing up. They watched as her smile grew grotesquely large. Ruki looked back to see the other girl growing a large black smile as she walked closer as well.

“Holy shit.” Uruha whimpered. “Someone do something.”

“Working on it.” Ruki groaned. Kai back up against the wall feeling something poke into his back. He turned to see a door.

“Ruki.” Kai shouted as he jiggled the locked doorknob. The singer turned and grabbed the cross key from around his neck. He quickly unlocked the door and the three piled in with Uruha kicking the door shut behind them before the two girls could follow them inside.

            The three took notice of the immediate change in the room color. They were in a bright white tiled room with a white sink and toilet on the far left wall. On the right side was Aoi, sitting against the wall with his knees up, his head dropped, and his arms at his sides. Next to him was a white tub with plastic curtains blocking the view inside. What unnerved them the most were the red splotches on the tub’s side, red puddles around it and Aoi’s hands which were covered in the same color. Ruki didn’t hesitate to run to his friend’s side and drop to his knees. He lifted Aoi’s face up as Kai and Uruha walked up to them. Aoi’s face wet and they could see the trails were tears had rolled down them.

            “Aoi, hey can you hear me?” Ruki said softly.

Aoi sniffled looking into the singer’s eyes. “I couldn’t save him.”

His head dropped back down and Ruki heard Uruha gasp. The singer slowly turned as he stood finally seeing past the plastic curtains splattered with red specks. He felt his mouth go dry and tears pricking his eyes. Reita was lying in water reddened by blood, his face pale, and motionless. Uruha slowly reached in and lifted the blonde’s body out of the tub to lay him on the floor. Kai whimpered dropping to his knees. Reita was fully clothed, but his long sleeve shirt couldn’t hide his cut up wrists. The cuts were so deep, it looked like some sort of animal tore into his flesh.

“No…”Uruha whimpered, holding his hand shakenly over Reita’s face.

“It’s all my fault.” Aoi whimpered. “All my fault. I couldn’t stop him. My body wouldn’t move until his eyes closed. I watched as he sliced up his wrists. I couldn’t stop him.”

“Aoi, he’s not dead.” Ruki said with clenched teeth.

“Look at him!” Aoi shouted. “He’s gone. He…killed himself because of me. Because I couldn’t take care of him. Because I couldn’t save him.”

Ruki watched as Aoi hunched over crying then over at Uruha and Kai who were breaking down over their friend’s dead body. Ruki looked at Reita closely then glared over at Aoi. He grabbed the guitarist’s shoulders and lifted him up before pushing him back into the wall.

“You know what,” Ruki yelled. “It is your fault! You treated him like trash! You yelled at him, you discouraged him, hell I even saw you hit him once. Each every time he forgave you and went back to you.”

“Ruki, stop.” Kai whimpered.

“No.” Ruki snapped. “This piece of shit caused Reita, our friend, to die. He drove Reita to suicide all because he couldn’t admit to himself that he was gay. He couldn’t let his stereotypical masculinity go and open up to Reita like he should have.”

“Ru… you’re going too far.” Uruha said.

Ruki smirked. “Aoi killed Reita. Aoi didn’t have the balls to tell Reita ‘I love you’. Aoi never apologized, he only used Reita for a convenient fuck because that’s all he was—” Ruki was cut off by Aoi’s punch.

            The guitarist was red faced, tears streaming down as he pushed Ruki to the floor and climbed on top of him. He swung another punch into Ruki’s face before grabbing his shirt collar and lifting his body up.

“Don’t you dare say that!” Aoi snapped, spit flying out of his mouth. “Reita was everything to me! He was the only thing that ever mattered! Yeah…I’m a piece of shit. I should have treated him better…but don’t you dare say I used him. Don’t you dare say he was nothing to me. He was my life. He was what I thought about going to bed every night and every morning when I woke up. He was my light.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing.” Ruki spat. “His body was just lying there in a tub. Uruha took him out, not you. He and Kai are crying over his body while you sit in a corner not even looking at him.”

“I don’t…want it to be real.”

“Well it is. So man up and accept it. Tell him what you should have told him.” Ruki ordered.

Aoi sniffled as he let the singer’s shirt go and finally looked over at Reita’s body. He let out a soft whimper as he slowly crawled up next to him. Aoi gently petted Reita’s wet blonde hair as he looked at the bassist’s pale face. He leaned down, pressing a gently kiss on Reita’s thin cold lips.

“I’m sorry.” Aoi whispered. “I’m sorry I never took you out on a real date. I’m sorry we only ever spent time in bed. I’m sorry I couldn’t admit that I wasn’t straight…that I’m gay. I’m sorry that I never told you that I… I love you Reita. I always have and I always will. I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you.”

Aoi dropped his head on Reita’s chest as he began to cry, but within seconds his head dropped further and he hit the floor. He sat up with wide eyes looking into the empty spot where Reita was just lying. He moved his hands over the spot trying to feel where the body once was.

“What?” He gasped. Ruki finally sat up and patted Aoi’s shoulder with a soft smile.

“I told you, he isn’t dead.”

“I don’t understand.” He whimpered.

Uruha let out a sigh of relief. “We’re in the nightmare house, remember?”

Aoi closed his eyes before falling onto the floor and groaning out. “I fucking hate this place!”

“Come on, let’s find our real Reita and get the hell out of here.” Kai said standing up.

            The four stood in front of the door staring at it, but Aoi looked at them then at the entrance.

“What are we waiting for?” He whispered.

“The creepy girls might still be out there.” Uruha whispered.

“Well we can’t find Reita if we stay here.” Aoi said and opened up the door. He stepped out first with his friends walking close behind. The two girls weren’t anywhere to be found, but a stuffed white bunny laid on the ground ahead of them. Ruki was quick to pick it up and show Uruha who rubbed its fuzzy arm.

“What’s up with the rabbit?” Aoi asked.

“This little boy calling himself Akira had it.” Uruha said. “We lost track of him earlier.”

“Does he have something to do with Reita?” The raven asked.

“We don’t know.” Ruki whispered. “Let’s keep moving.”

            They walked down the hallway together in silence, passing door after door. They were listening closely since they didn’t have time to check every room, but it didn’t seem like they were getting any closer to their friend. Ruki looked at the bunny he was holding and felt a wave of discomfort shiver up his spine. He didn’t like this at all, but he continued on with his friends close behind him. As they walked quietly they heard giggling coming from all around them. It sounded like two girls running in circles around them. Uruha grabbed Kai’s wrist as his body shook and Kai pulled away only to hold his friend’s hand instead. The drummer was scared too.

            Even though they were looking ahead as they walked straight, the young boy appeared within a blink of an eye. Ruki stopped in his tracks causing Aoi to bump into him and the others to stop. They started at the boy as he walked up to them.

“Akira.” Both Ruki and Uruha gasped.

“My bunny.” He whimpered reaching out to grab it. Ruki handed it over and the young boy hugged it tightly. He reached up to grab Ruki’s hand to started pulling him. “This way.”

“Wait, where are you taking us?” Ruki asked allowing himself to be lead away. His friends followed close behind as the young boy just smiled back at them. They headed down a little further before turning right. They went the end of the hall to a solid black door with a silver doorknob and the young boy pointed at it.

“Your friend is inside.” Akira said.

“He is?” Aoi gasped and went to open it, but found it locked.

“Move.” Ruki ordered taking the necklace off to use the cross key on the door, but paused. He stared down at the necklace for a moment when he realized the past two doors he opened he never grabbed the again. How did it get back around his neck?

“What are you wait for?” Aoi snapped taking the necklace from Ruki’s hand. He stuck into the door’s keyhole and turned it.

They heard a click as it opened up by itself to show a dimly lit room. The young boy walked in, so they followed and then Akira started to run. Ruki gasped as the young boy ran up to the two girls wearing white dresses. Their eerily large black smiles was taking up most of the bottom of their faces as if they were cartoon characters. Akira ran up to them and slowly turned around showing his black eyes and large black mouth.

“Run!” Ruki shouted and they all turned to get out, but found the door gone and a solid wall in its place. They all turned back to see the three kids slowly walking closer. The girl on the right threw her red ball at them, but it froze in midair. It began to shift and bubble up until it grew into the shape of a human. It slowly took the form of Uruha’s uncle and the guitarist stepped back. The second little girl threw her yellow ball as well. It shifted midair into the large black shadow from Kai’s nightmare and the drummer squeezed Uruha’s hand.

“Again?” Kai whimpered.

Ruki glared at Akira who lifted his bunny into the air. He spun around a few times before stopping with his back towards the group. He skipped forward a few feet before throwing his bunny forward onto the ground. It slowly grew larger and larger then began taking on a human appearance. Ruki and Aoi both gasped as they saw Reita’s body form completely from the bear. His face was scrunched up, sweaty and his hands were clenched into fists. The three children began to laugh as they moved around Reita’s sleeping body. Aoi moved to go to him, but the shadow swung its scythe. Kai barely pulled the guitarist back in time to dodge the attack.

            They watched from afar as the three children slowly grew and changed their shapes. The young boy changed into Aoi, the girl on the right changed in Uruha, and the girl on the left changed into Kai. Uruha’s uncle smirked as he stepped back with his face morphing and his body shrieking. Ruki watched wide eyed as the man changed into a form resembling the singer himself. The fake Ruki took his place beside the other three imposters in surrounding the bassist. Reita’s eyes slowly opened up.

“Useless.” Fake Ruki spoke looking down at Reita.

“Talentless.” Fake Uruha snapped.

“Inadequate.” Fake Kai laughed.

“Boring.” Fake Aoi smirked.

The insults kept coming and Reita covered his ears and closed his eyes as he curled up into a ball. Tear rolled down his cheeks. “No more. Please no more. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.”

“Rei…” Aoi whimpered. “We have to get to him.”

“How? This thing won’t let us move closer.” Uruha said pointing at the shadow.

“Kai, you beat it before, you can do it again.” Ruki said. Kai swallowed hard and nodded as he stepped forwards.

“I’m going to fail, but that’s life. I’m not scared of that. My friends will help me overcome my fears of you.”

The shadow swung its scythe again and Kai dodged it as he kept moving forward. Uruha ran up beside him as did Ruki then Aoi. The shadow moved back and went to swing its blade.

“It’s not real.” Ruki snapped and the scythe vanished.

“You’re real, but only inside me.” Kai said. “I won’t let you overtake me, so get lost!”

The shadow faded away and they started running forward. Fake Uruha glared at them and started walking away from Reita. The real Uruha charged forward and tackled it to the floor to start punching him.

“Stop taking my face damn it!” He yelled throwing a punch to the creature’s face. Fake Ruki and Kai moved away to help, but the originals moved in to fight them back. The real Aoi glared at his counterpart who smiled before lifting his foot back. He kicked Reita in the side making him cry out.

“I could never love a thing like you.”

Aoi screamed as he tackled his fake copy to the ground. He grabbed its neck and started slamming its head into the floor. “Don’t you dare…touch…him!”

            Uruha went to punch again when the body morph into a black cloud and flew away. The same happened with the other fakes and they combined into one before swarming over Reita’s body. The blonde cried out in pain digging his nails into his scalp. Blood dripped down his cheek mixing with tears. Aoi quickly crawled over and lifted Reita’s body in his arms.

“Reita, wake up!”

“Worthless, useless, nobody loves you, you’re hated, die, talentless, replaceable.” The voices whispered all around them, but they only seemed to be effecting Reita. Ruki, Uruha, and Kai sat around their friend as well.

“Rei, don’t listen to them.” Uruha whimpered grabbing his friend’s hand. “You’re not useless.”

“You mean everything to all of us.” Kai whimpered rubbing Reita’s face.

“This is only a nightmare.” Ruki said softly. “Open your eyes.”

Reita whimpered out before slowly opening them up taking in the site of his friends and a dark cloud circling around them. Voices filled his ears and it was giving him a headache.

“We could never hate you.” Aoi said with a soft smile. “I could never hate you. I love you, Reita.”

“Aoi?” Reita whispered. The guitarist leaned in and pressed a kiss on Reita’s lips before pulling up to wipe the tears away from the blonde’s cheeks.

“Say it.” Ruki said. “Say what you are. Say you’re worthy, you’re useful, and that you’re loved because you are Reita. We love you. You’re Aoi’s lover and you’re our friend. Say it!”

Reita sniffled letting out a weak voice. “I’m useful. I am…loved. I am worthy and adequate and talented and exciting. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m great the way I am. I am…I am…”

“Reita?” Aoi whimpered as Reita’s head dropped back and his eyes closed. “Reita!”

The voice suddenly grew louder and the spoke faster to the point they couldn’t understand what they were saying. They covered their ears as the black cloud swarmed around them. Ruki groaned looking through the cloud as his friends slowly fell over one by one. Ruki’s vision began to blur and his head felt like it was spinning. The next thing knew was blackness, but he wasn’t unconscious. He spotted two things reflecting light before a snake’s head came into his sight. Its eyes were shining as its tongue flickered.

“Rest.” A woman’s voice spoke and Ruki finally felt his mind falling into the darkness.

            Ruki felt his body shiver and then he felt cold. He could hear crunching and the sound of people talking nearby. His eyes slowly opened and he was staring up into darkness as white flakes fell around him. He blinked then found his vision lined up with a group of people wearing all blue outfits with yellow hats. As one moved he spotted Uruha on an orange stretcher. His neck was wrapped in a white supportive cast and his face was covered in bloody cuts, but his eyes were blinking. Ruki felt his head being gently turned by a warm hand. He was looking up at someone before a light blinded his sight. He vision began to blur as the man’s muffled voice spoke. Ruki couldn’t fight the exhaustion anymore and shut his eyes once more.

            The next time he woke up, Ruki was a lot warmer and he wasn’t outside anymore. He felt a wave of deja vu when he realized he was in some sort of medical room. He felt the mattress underneath his body before moving to sit up only to be push back down. He looked up at who grabbed his shoulder and was shocked. He felt his heart pounding and his hands began to shake.

“K-Kyo?” Ruki whimpered. “What…are you doing here?”

“You’re joking right?” Kyo gasped. His eyes were red and watery. The older singer sat on the edge of the bed. “You broke up with me for the stupidest damn reason then get into a fucking car wreck less than a week later. You’re an asshole.”

Ruki looked away. “I’m sorry, I just want you to be happy.”

Kyo grabbed Ruki’s chin and forced him to look back. “I was happy. And I was scared seeing you lay barely alive for two day damn days. I thought I was really going to lose you.”

“I’m…sorry.” Ruki whispered.

“I want you to come back to me. I want us to be together again.” Kyo said rubbing Ruki’s face. “Please come back to me?”

Ruki sniffled. “I’m dreaming again aren’t I?”

“No, no this is real.” Kyo said. Ruki laughed as he reached up to pull Kyo down for a kiss. Ruki moaned a little before he felt a strangely familiar shiver run though his spine and pulled away. Kyo gave him a strange look. “What’s wrong?”

Ruki pushed Kyo away and held a scowl. “My friends…where are my friends? Uruha, Kai, Aoi and Reita are they okay? Where are they? Please don’t tell me—”

“Calm down.” Kyo said softly. “They’re all fine. Uruha’s in the room next you. Aoi and Reita are sharing a room down the hall. Kai is across from Uruha.”

Ruki let out a shaky breath. “How bad are their injuries?”

“Well from what I’ve been told, Aoi has a dislocated shoulder, sprain ankle, and had a punctured lung, but he should heal fine. It won’t affect his music. Uruha has a broken wrist, covered in a lot cuts and had to get stitches in a few areas. He’ll have a few scars, but nothing deforming. Kai had some serious cuts from glass too, whiplash, and a couple of broken ribs. He has to take it easy for a while so no rocking out any time soon. Reita has a concussion, a nasty cut on his head, and some neck damage so no head banging for a while.”

Ruki felt his tense muscles relax and Kyo rubbed his face. Ruki smiled grabbing Kyo’s hand. “Can you take me to see them?”

“Whoa now, you had some injuries too you know. Cut up from head to toe, got a concussion, and had to have surgery. Your spleen got ruptured, but you’re all stitched up now.”

Ruki gave Kyo a pair of puppy-dog eyes and puffed his bottom lip out a little bit. Kyo sighed and smiled before kissing his boyfriend on the forehead.

            Uruha laughed as Toshiya covered his neck with gentle kisses. The bassist hadn’t left Uruha’s side since he was allowed to visit. He covered Uruha in kisses and soft touches then whispered sweet nothings in his ears every chance his got. They heard a soft giggle and looked at the doorway to see Ruki in a wheelchair with Kyo pushing him from behind. Uruha smiled brightly as he waved to his friend.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake.” Uruha said. “I was worried.”

Ruki nodded. “Same.”

“The nurse said he can’t be out of bed for too long.” Kyo said. “You guys can talk more later, okay.”

Uruha nodded. “O-of course. Get some rest Ruki, we’ll talk about the houses later.”

The singer’s eyes widen and he slowly nodded as he was pulled away from the room. Kyo patted Ruki’s shoulder. “Houses?”

“Oh, nothing. Just a game we were playing the other day.”

“Uh-huh…” Kyo hummed with a raised eyebrow. He rolled Ruki down the hall to Aoi and Reita’s room. They moved into the door and found Aoi in his own wheelchair by Reita’s bed. The raven was holding Reita’s hand whispering to him.

“I promise I won’t leave you again. I’ll treat you better than ever. I’ll make sure you get help too, so you won’t want to hurt yourself again. I promise to love you and show you that I love you every day. I promise.” Aoi sniffled and kissed Reita’s hand. The blonde though was sleeping soundly in his bed covered up to his shoulders with light blue blanket. He had a brace wrapped around his neck and some bandages around his head.

“It’ll be okay.” Ruki whispered. Aoi looked back at him with red eyes. “He’ll be okay.”

Aoi gave a small and nodded before laying his head down by Reita’s hand. He continued whispering to the blonde and Ruki motioned Kyo to leaved them be.

            They finally rolled up to Kai’s room where the drummer was laying at a raised angle watching tv. The drummer smiled brightly when he noticed Ruki roll in.

“Hey!” Kai said happily. “Glad to see you’re up and around.”

Ruki nodded. “Glad to see you awake, too.”

Kai pointed at the tv. “We’ve been all over the news these past couple of days. Coverage on our accident. Did you see everybody already?”

“Yeah.” He yawned.

“And it looked like it tired you out.” Kai laughed. “Go rest. Now that you’re awake, I’ll ask to be transferred to your room. I feel so lonely in here by myself.”

Ruki laughed. “Yeah, I’d like that for when Kyo’s gone.”

Kai nodded. “Yeah…”

The singer sighed. “We’re going to have to talk about all of this aren’t we?”

“We’ll get to it when we’re all out of here and better. Let’s focus on recuperating for now.”

“That means resting.” Kyo said. “I’m taking you back to your room now.”

“That’s a good idea, I’m tired.” Ruki sighed and Kyo started pulling him out when Kai spoke up again.

“Ruki,” the drummer smiled. “We’ll be okay. We’ll work everything out so don’t worry.”

            Kyo pushed Ruki back to his room and helped lay him back down into his bed. Kyo gently rubbed Ruki’s face as the younger singer slowly drifted off to sleep. It was calm for a moment and Ruki opened up his eyes only to find himself standing in a black room. He started gasping for air as he spun around until he stopped in front of a large snake with brown eyes. Its tongue flickered and Ruki’s eyes watered up. The snake slowly wrapped around his body and tightened up before looking him in the eye. Its tongue flickered out and licked his cheek.

The woman’s voice spoke. “A second chance has been given.”

“Why are you here?” Ruki whispered.

“I am always near death,” She hissed, “Fore I am death itself.”

“We passed your tests.”

“That you did.” The snake hissed. “Never forget, I’m always near.”

Ruki opened his eyes with a gasp and Kyo was by his side rubbing his cheek. The room was dim, and the curtains closed but Ruki knew it was dark outside. Kyo planted several kisses on Ruki’s head as he caught his breath.

“Is he okay?” Kai asked from the bed next to them. He must have been transferred while Ruki was out.

“I’m fine.” Ruki sighed. “Just a nightmare.”

“Try to go back to sleep.” Kyo whispered and Ruki nodded.

“Will you get me something drink?” Ruki asked softly and Kyo nodded. Ruki watched as his lover walked out of the room leaving the door opened as he did. Just as Kyo disappeared, a woman with black hair wearing a long white dress walked past with her son holding her hand. The young boy looked familiar and was holding a white stuffed bunny wearing a pair of overalls. He turned to smile at Ruki as they walked past and a shiver went up the singer’s spine. He took a steady breath as he looked up at the ceiling. It _was_ over…right?


End file.
